Angiographic catheter

An angiographic catheter comprising a catheter tube having a lumen, a loop-shaped deformed portion having a distal end opening communicating with said lumen, a side aperture forming portion having a number of side apertures communicating with said lumen, and a body portion, said side apertures being formed in a flank of the catheter that is located toward a proximal end of said catheter from said deformed portion, the body portion being located toward a proximal end of said catheter from said side aperture forming portion, there being more than 9 side apertures formed in a section of said side aperture forming portion having an axial length of 10 mm, with each of said side apertures covering an area smaller than 0.3 mm2, and said side apertures formed in the section of said side aperture forming portion having an axial length of 10 mm covering a total area ranging from 2.0 mm2 to 15 mm2, said side apertures being formed such that a ratio of Q2/(Q1+Q2) ranges from 0.25 to 0.9 when an amount of the contrast medium injected from said distal end opening is defined as Q1 and a total amount of the contrast medium injected from said side apertures is defined as Q2.

An angiographic catheter comprising a catheter tube having a lumen, a loop-shaped deformed portion having a distal end opening communicating with said lumen, a side aperture forming portion having a number of side apertures communicating with said lumen, and a body portion, said side apertures being formed in a flank of the catheter that is located toward a proximal end of said catheter from said deformed portion, the body portion being located toward a proximal end of said catheter from said side aperture forming portion, there being more than 9 side apertures formed in a section of said side aperture forming portion having an axial length of 10 mm, with each of said side apertures covering an area smaller than 0.3 mm2, the catheter having a mean flow rate of the contrast medium per unit area of each of the side apertures ranging from 0.13 (ml/s)/mm2 to 1.51 (ml/s)/mm2 when the contrast medium with a viscosity of 10.6 c.p. at 37° C. is injected into the catheter from a rear end thereof in a total injection amount of 36 ml under a pressure of 1000 psi and at a flow rate of 12 ml/sec, said side apertures being formed such that a ratio of Q2/(Q1+Q2) ranges from 0.25 to 0.9 when an amount of the contrast medium injected from said distal end opening is defined as Q1 and a total amount of the contrast medium injected from said side apertures is defined as Q2.

An angiograhic catheter exhibiting elasticity and having a lumen and a distal end portion possessing a deformed portion that is curved in a loop in the absence of an applied external force, the deformed portion having a distal end at which is located a distal end opening, the catheter including a straight portion located toward a proximal end of the catheter from the deformed portion, the straight portion possessing an axis and being provided with a plurality of side apertures, the deformed portion being oriented so that a jet stream of a contrast medium injected from the distal end opening flows substantially perpendicularly to the axis of the straight portion in which the side apertures are formed when the contrast medium is injected from the distal end opening, the side apertures being arranged such that a reaction force generated by injection of the contrast medium fed through the lumen of the catheter from the distal end opening is counterbalanced to the greatest possible extent by the contrast medium injected from the side apertures, and wherein upon a quantity of contrast medium being fed into the lumen a ratio of Q2/(Q1+Q2) ranges from 0.5 to 0.9, with Q1 representing the amount of the contrast medium injected from said distal end opening and Q2 representing the total amount of the contrast medium injected from said side apertures.