Co-extruded taper shaft
AssigneeAdvanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.
InventorsStephen J. Tiernan, Jeong S. Lee, Mina W. B. Chow, Stephen G. Schaible
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for providing a co-extruded, tapered multi-layer shaft. A co-extruded, tapered multi-layer shaft may be fabricated by selecting a first material for the inner layer of the shaft and a second material for the outer layer of the shaft. The first and second materials are then co-extruded by a co-extrusion system including a puller with programmable tapering capabilities. The system forms a hollow tubing having an inner layer and an outer layer, wherein the tubing has the desired tapered characteristics. The result is a tapered tubular shaft having an inner layer and an outer layer.
Claims19
A catheter body comprising:
- an inner layer comprising a first material throughout a length of the catheter body;
- an outer layer comprising a second material throughout the length of the catheter body, the inner layer and the outer layer to form a taper segment;
- wherein said outer layer and said inner layer are concurrently extruded and post-extrusion process necked to form a hollow tapered multi-layer tubing having a first diameter smaller than a second diameter;
- wherein a relative thickness of a wall of said inner layer decreases as said inner layer traverses along said taper segment, and wherein a relative thickness of a wall of said outer layer decreases as said outer layer traverses along said taper segment.
A catheter body, comprising:
- a co-extruded hollow tube having a distal section comprising a first material and a proximal section comprising a second material, said first material having a thickness that is substantially similar to said second material;
- wherein said co-extruded hollow tube forms a taper segment such that a first diameter of said hollow tube is smaller than a second diameter of said hollow tube;
- wherein a relative thickness of a wall of said first material decreases as said co-extruded hollow tube traverses along said taper segment, and wherein a relative thickness of a wall of said second material decreases as said co-extruded hollow tube traverses along said taper segment.
A catheter shaft comprising:
- a tapered coextruded multilayered tube having an inner layer of a first material with a first wall thickness and an outer layer of a second material with a second wall thickness, formed by a process of concurrently coextruding and tapering, through pulling, said inner layer and said outer layer, such that the tapered coextruded multilayered tube has a tapered section along which an outer diameter and an inner diameter of the tube decreases, and a ratio of the first wall thickness to the second wall thickness remains constant along the length of the multilayered tube, wherein the first wall thickness decreases as the tapered coextruded multilayered tube traverses along the tapered section, and the second wall thickness decreases as the tapered coextruded multilayered tube traverses along the tapered section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.