Method of making radio-opaque tipped, sleeved guidewire and product
First Claim
1. A method of making a radio-opaque tipped, sleeved guidewire, which comprises:
- (a) providing a bendable solid core piece of a predetermined length, having a control end and a distal end and having a predetermined core diameter, and providing a shrinkable polymeric sleeve formed of a first polymer composition said first polymer composition being a polyacrylonitrile-containing composition and having a first diameter at least as large as said core diameter and capable of having a second, smaller diameter from shrinkage of said sleeve, wherein said second diameter is less than said core diameter;
(b) placing said polymeric sleeve over said core piece while said polymeric sleeve has its first diameter, and placing it so as to leave one end of said polymeric sleeve covering at least a portion of the distal end of said core piece and so as to leave a portion of said polymeric sleeve overhanging said distal end of said core piece;
(c) providing a mixture of a radio-opaque metal powder and a second polymer composition, said second polymer composition being capable of forming a physical bond with said first polymeric composition of said polymeric sleeve;
(d) inserting said mixture into the overhanging polymeric sleeve at the distal end of said core piece to establish a separate area of said mixture of radio-opaque metal powder and said second polymer composition; and
,(e) shrinking said polymeric sleeve to its second, smaller diameter and forming said physical bond between said first polymer composition and said second polymer composition while maintaining said separate area of said mixture of radio-opaque metal powder and said second polymer composition.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a method of making a radio-opaque tipped, sleeved guidewire. It includes providing a bendable core piece of a predetermined length, having a control end and a distal end and having a predetermined core diameter, and providing a shrinkable polymeric sleeve formed of a first polymer composition having a first diameter at least as large as said core diameter and having a second, smaller diameter from shrinking said second diameter, which is less than said core diameter. The polymeric sleeve is placed over the core piece while the polymeric sleeve has its first diameter, so as to have one end of the polymeric sleeve cover at least a portion of the distal end of the core piece. Next, a mixture of a radio-opaque metal powder and a second polymer composition is provided. The second polymer composition is capable of forming a physical bond with the first polymeric composition of the polymeric sleeve. The mixture is inserted into the overhanging polymeric sleeve at the distal end of the core piece and the polymeric sleeve is shrunk to its second, smaller diameter. The physical bond is formed between the first polymer composition and the second polymer composition. The present invention is also directed to the resulting guidewire products.
143 Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A method of making a radio-opaque tipped, sleeved guidewire, which comprises:
-
(a) providing a bendable solid core piece of a predetermined length, having a control end and a distal end and having a predetermined core diameter, and providing a shrinkable polymeric sleeve formed of a first polymer composition said first polymer composition being a polyacrylonitrile-containing composition and having a first diameter at least as large as said core diameter and capable of having a second, smaller diameter from shrinkage of said sleeve, wherein said second diameter is less than said core diameter; (b) placing said polymeric sleeve over said core piece while said polymeric sleeve has its first diameter, and placing it so as to leave one end of said polymeric sleeve covering at least a portion of the distal end of said core piece and so as to leave a portion of said polymeric sleeve overhanging said distal end of said core piece; (c) providing a mixture of a radio-opaque metal powder and a second polymer composition, said second polymer composition being capable of forming a physical bond with said first polymeric composition of said polymeric sleeve; (d) inserting said mixture into the overhanging polymeric sleeve at the distal end of said core piece to establish a separate area of said mixture of radio-opaque metal powder and said second polymer composition; and
,(e) shrinking said polymeric sleeve to its second, smaller diameter and forming said physical bond between said first polymer composition and said second polymer composition while maintaining said separate area of said mixture of radio-opaque metal powder and said second polymer composition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A radio-opaque tipped, sleeved guidewire, which comprises:
-
(a) a bendable solid core piece having a control end and a distal end, and having a predeterminded length and a predetermined core diameter; (b) a tightly held polymeric sleeve, covering said core piece and extending over at least a portion of the distal end of said core piece, said sleeve being formed of a first polymer composition which is a polyacrylonitrile-containing composition; and
,(c) a mixture of radio-opaque powder and a second polymer composition contained within said sleeve at said distal end of said core piece forming an area separate from but physically bonded to said sleeve. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
Specification