Disclosed is a guidewire configured to provide high torsional stiffness without detrimentally increasing bending stiffness. Such a device provides a high ratio of torsional stiffness to bending stiffness. The guidewire device includes a core with a proximal section and a distal section. The distal section of the core is coupled to a microfabricated outer tube such that the distal section of the core passes into and is encompassed by the outer tube.

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.

Provided is a medical guidewire that ensures adhesion of a coating layer and exhibits excellent smoothness. A medical guidewire including includes a wire body that is flexible and long, an intermediate layer that has at least one layer and covers a surface of the wire body, and an outermost layer that covers a surface of the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer is colored by including a pigment, and a concentration of the pigment is 50 wt % or more and 90 wt % or less with respect to the intermediate layer as a whole.

Medical devices as well as methods for making and using medical devices are disclosed. An example medical device may include a core wire having a proximal shaft portion and a distal shaft portion coupled to the proximal shaft portion. The proximal shaft portion may include a first material. The distal shaft portion may include an inner shaft formed from a second material and an outer shell disposed along an outer surface of the inner shaft. The outer shell may be formed of the first material.

A method and device for positioning an expandable support in a blood vessel is disclosed herein. The device may include a handle, a catheter assembly, a core wire, and an expandable support. The expandable support may be used to position the device relative to the arteriotomy, as well as to provide temporary hemostasis. The expandable support may be attached to the catheter assembly at a first end, and to the core wire at a second end to optimize the width of the expandable support based on the function being performed by the expandable support at a given time. The catheter assembly may be able to move relative to the handle and the core wire, thereby moving the first end of the expandable support relative to the handle and the core wire.

The invention provides for a steerable guidewire for insertion into a body cavity, characterized in that is comprises an elongated body defining a longitudinally-arranged lumen comprising i) a proximal end portion and ii) a distal end portion comprising a spatially reconfigurable portion and a tip; a pull wire located along said lumen and affixed to said distal end portion and to said proximal end; an actuation region located on said proximal end portion adapted to impart a tension force on the pull wire resulting in a compression force to the spatially reconfigurable region; and an intermediate region tubular element on said body located between said spatially reconfigurable portion and said proximal end.

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.

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 optical fiber guidewire according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes at least one optical fiber and a sleeve surrounding the optical fiber. The sleeve includes a functional section, a guiding section and a supporting section that are connected in sequence. An asymmetric structure is provided on the sleeve itself or the surround of the sleeve along the optical fiber. Therefore, the optical fiber guidewire provided in this disclosure has good bending performance and operability, and thus can be easily manipulated, readily enters a body cavity with a larger opening angle, and achieves self-guidance and flexible detection of the optical fiber guidewire in the body cavity, thereby improving the effect of minimally invasive interventional treatment.