Methods of making composite catheters
OwnerMarcus J. Milletinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A polymeric tube for a medical catheter is provided with elongated metal stripes extending lengthwise along the tube by illuminating the exterior surface of the tube patternwise and treating metal responsive to the illumination. The tube may be covered with a photoresist and moved axially past a plurality of light beams while rotating the tube about its axis so as to form a helical pattern. After development of the photoresist, the metal is deposited or removed in a pattern corresponding to the pattern formed in the photoresist, so as to leave helical metallic stripes. The metallic stripes may have varying helical pitch, varying width or both along the length of the tube, and may serve as electrical connectors and physical reinforcements for the tube wall.
Claims12
A method of making an elongated catheter comprising the steps of:
- (a)providing a polymeric tube;
- (b)forming a metal on an exterior surface of the tube into a pattern including a plurality of elongated stripes of metal spaced circumferentially around said tube and extending lengthwise along the tube, said forming step including the steps of illuminating the exterior surface of the tube patternwise and treating said metal responsive to said illumination.
A method of making an elongated catheter comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a polymeric tube;
- (b) forming a metal on an exterior surface of the tube into a pattern including a plurality of elongated stripes of metal spaced circumferentially around said tube and extend lengthwise along the tube, said forming step including the steps of illuminating the exterior surface of the tube patternwise and treating said metal responsive to said illumination, said forming step further including the steps of providing a layer of said metal on said exterior surface and a layer of a resist on said metal layer before said illuminating step so that said resist is selectively developed responsive to said illumination to leave elongated stripes of resist corresponding to said stripes of metal overlying said layer with gaps therebetween, and then exposing the exterior surface of the tube to an etchant to remove the metal in said gaps.
A method of making an elongated catheter comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a polymeric tube;
- (b) forming a metal on an exterior surface of the tube into a pattern including, a plurality of elongated stripes of metal spaced circumferentially around said tube and extending lengthwise along the tube, said forming step including the steps of illuminating the exterior surface of the tube patternwise and treating said metal responsive to said illumination, said forming step further including the steps of providing a resist on said exterior surface of said tube prior to said illuminating step so that said resist is selectively developed responsive to said illumination to leave a layer of resist with elongated gaps corresponding to said stripes of metal overlying said exterior surface and then depositing said metal on said exterior surface so that said metal adheres to said exterior surface only in said gaps.
A method of making an elongated catheter comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a polymeric tube;
- (b) forming a metal on an exterior surface of the tube into a pattern including a plurality of elongated stripes of metal spaced circumferentially around said tube and extending lengthwise along the tube, said forming step including the steps of illuminating the exterior surface of the tube patternwise and treating said metal responsive to said illumination, said illuminating step including the steps of advancing said tube lengthwise through a plurality of light beams transverse to the tube so that said light beams impinge on the tube and trace exposed stripes along the length of the tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.