Device having a radiopaque marker for endoscopic accessories and method of making same

• US 5,256,158 A
• Filed: 05/17/1991
• Issued: 10/26/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Credit Suisse First Boston (Credit Suisse)
• Original Assignee: ACT Medical, Inc.
• Inventors: Alvarez de Toledo, Fernando, Tolkoff, M. Joshua
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosenbaum, C. Fred
• Assistant Examiner(s): Maglione, C.
• Application Number:
  US07/702,621
• Time in Patent Office: 893 Days
• Field of Search: 604/96, 604/264, 604/280, 604/282, 128/656-658
• US Class Current: 604/529
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/012 characterised by internal passages or accessories therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/12 Arrangements for detecting or locating foreign bodies
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0108 using radio-opaque or ultrasound markers

Abstract

A plastic catheter and a method for making the same, the catheter having radiopaque marker ring placed within a tube, whereby the radiopaque ring is inserted into the expanded section of the tube, followed by the relaxation of the tube to its original dimensions, such that there is no protusion of the ring on the tube inner-diameter, where the ring inner-diameter is equal or greater than the tube inner-diameter, and the ring outer-diameter protrudes a distance into the tube but not beyond the thickness of the tube; thereby, creating a smooth outer surface and an obstruction free inner surface.

Claims

1. A device having a radiopaque marker ring for use with endoscopic accessories comprising:

a tube defining a lumen and a radiopaque ring, wherein said tube has a tube inner-diameter and a tube outer-diameter and said radiopaque ring has a ring inner-diameter and a ring outer-diameter, such that said ring inner-diameter is equal to said tube inner-diameter, but that said ring outer-diameter is less than said tube outer-diameter, wherein said ring is disposed completely within said lumen of the tube, a distance away from either end of said tube, and detached from objects other than the tube, wherein said ring, having an inner and outer surface, is positioned such that said inner surface of said ring is exposed to said lumen of said tube and said outer surface of said ring is embedded within said tube, so that said tube with said radiopaque ring presents a continuous, non-obstructed, pathway and a smooth, bump-free inner and outer surface, and the overall thickness of said tube, caused by the inclusion therein of said marker ring, is minimized.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said tube is a catheter constructed of a flexible plastic material.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said tube is a catheter constructed of flexible TFE material.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein said tube is a catheter constructed of a flexible plastic material and coated with TFE.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein said tube with said radiopaque ring disposed within said tube has a smooth outer surface.

6. A method of constructing a device having a radiopaque marker for use in endoscopic accessories comprising:

providing a tube;

expanding said tube to create an expanded-end-section;

inserting a radiopaque ring, having an inner and outer surface, inside said expanded-end-section of said tube, such that said ring inner-surface is exposed to the said lumen of said tube and said ring outer-surface is embedded in said tube;

shrinking said expanded-end-section so that said tube returns to its original dimensions.