A mold is used to form a solder joint to join the distal end of the guidewire to a wire coil. The mold has a cavity that can have different configurations so that the solder joint can be any of bullet shaped, micro-J shaped, cone shaped, truncated cone shaped, or have a textured surface.

A guidewire includes a metal wire, a first electrically-insulating layer, and a second electrically-insulating layer. The metal wire has a distal end. The first electrically-insulating layer covers the wire. The second electrically-insulating layer covers the distal end of the guidewire, wherein a breakdown voltage of the second electrically-insulating layer is larger than that of the first electrically-insulating layer.

A guidewire formed from drawn filled tubing having an inner core member encased in an outer layer. The inner core member is formed from a linear elastic or superelastic material and the outer layer is formed from a metal alloy such as 35N LT. A portion of the outer layer is ground down to form a feather edged joint between the outer layer and the inner core member.

Polymer catheters and guidewires for use in intravascular surgery, and more particularly polymer catheters and guidewires micro-machined with a micro-cutting machine to provide sufficient flexibility to travel through a patient's vasculature while retaining sufficient torquability to transmit torque from a proximal end to the distal end of the catheter or guidewire, and methods of producing the same.

A guide wire with improved joining strength is provided. The guide wire includes a first wire and a second wire are solid-phase-joined to each other, the first wire and the second wire are made of a Ni—Ti-based alloy. When a section of a crystal grain size is 1 μm in a number-based particle size distribution of crystal grains of a metallographic structure of a joint surface between the first wire and the second wire, the frequency of the crystal grains having a mode particle size is 25% or more and the frequency of the crystal grains having a crystal grain size with a representative diameter of (mode particle size (μm)−1 μm) or more and (mode particle size (μm)+1 μm) or less is 60% or more.

Guidewires having conductive elements are described where in one variation, the guidewire may be formed by disposing an insulative layer upon a surface of the guidewire core, and printing one or more conductive traces directly upon a surface of the insulative layer.

An apparatus and method of manufacture includes a helical wire coil and a core wire. The core wire has a first wire portion and a second wire portion. The first wire portion of the core wire extends through the helical wire coil. The second wire portion of the core wire is intertwined with the first helical wire coil to fixedly secure the core wire relative to the first helical wire coil. The core wire is formed from a first material that is non-extensible. The core wire is fixedly secured relative to a distal portion of the helical wire coil such that the core wire inhibits longitudinal elongation of the helical wire coil along a longitudinal coil axis.

This disclosure describes microfabricated intravascular devices that are configured for high axial strength while also maintaining effective bending flexibility. A tube member includes a series of circumferentially extending rings connected to one another by a series of axially extending beams. Transverse cuts separate and define the rings. A series of axial cuts are aligned with the beams and extend from the beams partially into the adjoining rings so that the beam length is nested partially within the axial length of the adjoining rings. This increases the functional length of the beams to provide bending flexibility while still sufficient ring structure to provide effective axial stiffness.

A mold is used to form a solder joint to join the distal end of the guidewire to a wire coil. The mold has a cavity that can have different configurations so that the solder joint can be any of bullet shaped, micro-J shaped, cone shaped, truncated cone shaped, or have a textured surface.

Guidewires having conductive elements are described where in one variation, the guidewire may be formed by disposing an insulative layer upon a surface of the guidewire core, and printing one or more conductive traces directly upon a surface of the insulative layer.