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US 6,077,880 AGranted
Highly radiopaque polyolefins and method for making the same
AssigneeCordis Corporation
InventorsMiguel Castillo, Joquin Villalobos, Jeffrey Walker
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AssigneeCordis Corporation
InventorsMiguel Castillo, Joquin Villalobos, Jeffrey Walker
Estimating the term…
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a method for making a highly radiopaque polyolefin compound, wherein the radiopaque material in said compound is substantially uniformly dispersed and held within a polymer matrix. During the method one first heats an amount of polyolefin, preferably low density polyethylene, to at least its melting temperature. The amount of polyolefin is equal to at least 10% by weight of the compound. Then an amount of radiopaque metal powder is added to the polyolefin. The amount of radiopaque metal is equal to up to 90% by weight of the compound. The metal powder is preferably tantalum, tungsten, gold or platinum. Thereafter, an amount of a dispersing agent is added to the polyolefin to form a mixture. The amount of dispersing agent is equal to at least 0.2% by weight of the compound. The dispersing agent is preferably zinc stearate, aluminum stearate or calcium stearate. Lastly, the mixture is mixed and cooled below its melting temperature to form the compound.
A vascular catheter having a distal end and a proximal end, said distal end of said catheter comprising a highly radiopaque polyolefin compound wherein the radiopaque material in said compound is wetted with a dispersing agent and substantially uniformly dispersed and held within a polymer matrix, said highly radiopaque polyolefin compound is formed from a method comprising:
A vascular catheter having distal and proximal ends, wherein said distal end of said catheter comprises a radiopaque compound comprising up to 10% by weight polyolefin, up to 90% by weight radiopaque metal powder and at least 0.2% by weight stearate dispersing agent, wherein said metal powder is wetted with said dispersing agent and substantially uniformly distributed and held within a polymer dispersing agent and substantially uniformly distributed and held within a polymer matrix.
A vascular catheter having distal and proximal ends, wherein said distal end of said catheter comprises a radiopaque compound comprising up to 10% by weight low density polyethylene, up to 90% by weight radiopaque metal powder selected from the group comprising tantalum, tungsten, gold and platinum, and at least 0.2% by weight stearate dispersing agent selected from the group comprising zinc stearate, aluminum stearate and calcium stearate, wherein said metal powder is wetted with said dispersing agent and substantially uniformly distributed and held within a polymer matrix.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.