Hard tip drainage catheter

A drainage catheter (10) in combination with an introducer stylet (28) that is extendable through said drainage catheter, comprising:

• a flexible elongated member (11) for insertion into a patient and having a distal portion (12), a proximal portion (13), and a passage (14) extending longitudinally therethrough, said distal portion comprising a first, flexible thermoplastic material (16) having a first durometer and a second, thermoplastic tip material (17) positioned distal said first material and at a distal end (18) of said distal portion and having a second durometer harder than said first durometer, said tip material having and external taper (33) at said distal end of said distal portion, said passage having a first cross-sectional area (19) extending through said first material, a second cross-sectional area (20) extending in said second material and less than said first cross-sectional area at said distal end, and an internal taper (34) extending from said first to said second cross-sectional area, said second cross-sectional area being also less than a cross-sectional area of said stylet, whereby said second cross-sectional area at said distal end of said passage forms a tight fit with said stylet extending through said passage, and said second, thermoplastic tip material does not push, peel, or roll back from said stylet when introducing said distal end of said elongated member into said patient with said stylet.

A drainage catheter comprising:

• a flexible tubular member for insertion into a patient and having a distal portion, a proximal portion, and a passage extending longitudinally therethrough, said distal portion having a plurality of ports including first and second draw ports and an end port and being formed to be positioned into a desired configuration and comprising a flexible polyurethane material having a durometer of approximately 84A on the Shore hardness scale and a hard polyurethane material of approximately 68D on the Shore hardness scale disposed distal of said flexible polyurethane material, said passage having a first diameter extending through said flexible polyurethane material and a second diameter extending in said hard polyurethane material and smaller than said first diameter at least at said distal end of said distal portion;
• a flexible tension member extending along said flexible tubular member and passing through said first and second draw ports for drawing said distal portion into said desired configuration;
• and
• lockable means positioned at a proximal end of said proximal portion for drawing said flexible tension member and fixedly positioning said distal portion in said desired configuration,
• said hard polyurethane material having an external taper proximate said distal end of said distal portion and formed by a mold having a cavity with an internal taper for forming said external taper of said distal portion, said flexible polyurethane material having an internal taper between said first and second diameters and formed by a mandril positioned in said internal cavity having an external taper for forming the internal taper of the passage of the distal portion, said internal and said external taper being formed by positioning said hard polyurethane material in said cavity proximate said internal taper thereof and around said mandril, positioning said flexible polyurethane material around said mandril and in said cavity proximate said hard polyurethane material, heating said cavity proximate said internal taper thereof and pushing said flexible polyurethane material into said cavity.