Steerable guide wire with torsionally stable tip

Abstract

A steerable guide wire includes a core wire having a proximal end and a distal end. A braided filament is affixed to the distal end of the core wire. An outer coil surrounds at least a portion of the core wire and the braided filament. A proximal end of the braided filament is secured to a distal end of the coil. By locating the braided filament in the distal tip portion of the guide wire, a guide wire is provided that is highly flexible, has a high degree of tensile integrity, and is highly steerable, even in tortuous vasculature. Filter and balloon catheters having braided filaments at the distal end are also described.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 176,485, filed Jul. 7, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The field of the invention generally relates to guide wires. More particularly, the field of the invention relates to steerable guide wires used to access a site of interest inside a body lumen from a remote position located outside the body. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Catheter based vascular interventions are becoming increasingly common in many of the vascular beds of the human body. For example, the treatment of obstructive plaque (e.g., stenosis) in coronary, peripheral, and cerebral arteries via angioplasty (with or without stents) has become a routine procedure. There remains a need, however, to improve the devices used in these procedures, to make them faster, easier, safer, and more viable, particularly in challenging anatomical situations. [0004] The vast majori...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] The present invention provides for a steerable guide wire that dramatically improves steerability without compromising tensile integrity or flexibility.

Problems solved by technology

While grinding the core wire to these smaller diameters does impart flexibility to the core wire, it is typically still not flexible enough for the tip portion to be atraumatic to the vasculature.

Unfortunately, however, the cross-sectional area of such a round wire would be substantially less than the cross-sectional area of the ribbon configuration.

While the prior art guide wire described above has a tip portion with good flexibility and acceptable tensile integrity, it does have compromised steerability as a result of the ribbon structure in the tip portion.

Therefore, the ability to rotate the tip to orientations between 0 and 180 degrees is hampered.

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