Intravascular microcatheter with embedded helical coil reinforcement member and methods and apparatus for making same

Abstract

A unitary intravascular microcatheter with a continuous embedded helical coil reinforcement member and a method for making same are provided. Multiple catheters are manufactured from a continuous feedstock to reduce manufacturing time and labor cost. A selected length of a cylindrical tube is held stationary between a pair of spaced apart chuck members while a reinforcement wire is wrapped onto the stationary portion. The wire wrap portion of the cylindrical tube is advanced relative to the chuck members to hold a second selected length of no-wrap cylindrical tube stationary for wire wrapping of the second portion. The steps of advancing the cylindrical tube through the chuck members and then wrapping the reinforcement wire onto the tube is repeated for substantially the entire length of the elongate cylindrical tube to form a wire wrapped cylindrical tube with multiple wire wrapped sections spaced from one another by unwrapped sections. A coating of a continuous finish coating is then applied to the entire length of the wire wrapped cylindrical tube. The finish coated cylindrical tube is then cut to catheter lengths at selected locations and thereafter ground to a desired diameter and finish.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.