Catheter for guide-wire tracking
First Claim
1. A catheter for use with a guide wire which can be guided from an external body access site to an internal tissue, and into the tissue along a tortuous path of at least about 5 cm through vessels of less than about 3 mm lumen inner diameter, said catheter comprisingan elongate tubular member having proximal and distal ends, and an inner lumen extending between these ends, said member being composed ofa relatively stiff proximal segment means for tracking the wire from the access site to a region adjacent the internal tissue, anda relatively flexible distal segment means at least about 5 cm long for tracking the wire along the tortuous path within the internal tissue.
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Abstract
A catheter for use with a guide wire which can be guided from an external body access site to an internal tissue, and into the tissue along a tortuous path of at least about 5 cm through vessels of less than about 3 mm lumen inner diameter. The catheter includes a relatively stiff proximal segment dimensioned to track the wire from the access site to a region adjacent the internal tissue, and a relatively flexible distal segment dimensioned to track the wire along the tortuous path within the soft tissue.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A catheter for use with a guide wire which can be guided from an external body access site to an internal tissue, and into the tissue along a tortuous path of at least about 5 cm through vessels of less than about 3 mm lumen inner diameter, said catheter comprising
an elongate tubular member having proximal and distal ends, and an inner lumen extending between these ends, said member being composed of a relatively stiff proximal segment means for tracking the wire from the access site to a region adjacent the internal tissue, and a relatively flexible distal segment means at least about 5 cm long for tracking the wire along the tortuous path within the internal tissue.
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7. The catheter of 4, wherein the outer tube extends substantially the entire length of the catheter.
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9. A catheter device for use in accessing a target site located within a tissue along a tortuous path of at least about 5 cm through vessels of less than about 3 mm lumen inner diameter, said device comprising
a guide wire which can be guided from an external body access site to the tissue, and into the tissue along the tortuous path to the target site, and an elongate tubular member having proximal and distal ends, and an inner lumen extending between these ends, and through which the wire is slidably carried, said member being composed of a relatively stiff proximal segment means for tracking the wire from the access site to a region adjacent the internal tissue, and a relatively flexible distal segment means at least about 5 cm long, for tracking the wire along the tortuous path within the internal tissue.
Specification