Enhanced lubricity guidewire
AssigneeTarget Therapeutics, Inc.
InventorsThomas J. Palermo, Gene Samson, Gregory E. Mirigian, U. Hiram Chee
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Abstract
This invention is a surgical device. It is a guidewire for use in a catheter and is used for accessing a targeted site in a lumen system of a patient's body. The guidewire or guidewire section may be of a stainless steel or a high elasticity metal alloy, preferably a Ni--Ti alloy, having specified physical parameters. The guidewire is especially useful for accessing peripheral or soft tissue targets. A special variation of the inventive guidewire includes the coating of the wire with a tie layer and then with a one or more lubricious polymers to enhance its suitability for use within catheters and with the interior of vascular lumen.
Claims24
A guidewire section suitable for guiding a catheter within a blood vessel, comprising
- a.) an elongated flexible metal wire core having a proximal section and a distal tip section.
- b.) a polymeric tie layer disposed about at least a portion of said distal section,
- c.) a lubricious polymer layer disposed about the polymeric tie layer, and
- d.) a malleable metal wire coil disposed about another distally located portion of said distal tip section, said malleable metal wire coil having a section length uncoated by said polymeric tie layer.
A guidewire section suitable for guiding a catheter within a body lumen, comprising
- a) an elongated, flexible metal wire core of a super-elastic alloy having a UP of 75 ksi.+-.10 ksi, an LP of 25.+-.7.5 ksi measured at 3% strain and a PS of less than 0.25% where measured in a stress-strain test to 6% strain, and
- b) a polymeric tie layer coaxially located about the wire area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.