Long tapered dilator

Abstract

A dilator assembly used for the dilatation of vessel, tracts, or cavities. The dilator assembly comprises a hub portion, a shaft portion, and a long tapered tip portion having a taper no greater than 4 Fr per 1 cm. In certain aspects, the taper of the tapered tip portion is between approximately 1 Fr per 1 cm to 1 Fr per 1.5 cm. The present invention obviates the need for pre-dilatation. The dilator shaft portion and/or the distal tapered tip portion are flexible, providing excellent tractability, being capable of bending along a guide wire with minimal physical force and without kinking, to tract the curvature of a vessel, tract, or cavity. Additionally, a section of the shaft portion can be is capable of similarly bending along a guide wire. The present invention functions as a dilator, and tracts like a catheter over a guide wire.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.