A kink-resistance catheter has a first pair of core wires residing in the catheter body on opposed side of a catheter lumen. The core wires have relatively stiff proximal ends but taper toward their distal ends. The tapered construction provides the core wires with a degree of distal flexibility that helps the catheter advance along a vasculature to a site of interest without kinking and with improved torsional rigidity. If desired, shaping ribbons are provided in the catheter body adjacent to the distal ends of the core wires. The shaping ribbons can be pre-bent before a surgical procedure to help the physician advance the catheter along the vasculature. Finally, the core wires provide the ability to push the catheter through the vasculature with out the need for the catheter to go over a guidewire already in-situ in the vasculature.

Intraluminal and endovascular devices and methods of manufacturing intraluminal and endovascular devices may be provided. In one implementation, an intraluminal device may include a sheath having a flexible distal bending segment and a core wire arranged within the sheath. The core wire may include a distal end portion doubled back in a loop within the sheath such that the distal tip of the core wire is situated proximally from the loop. The intraluminal device may also include a movement restrictor within the sheath that is configured to limit axial movement of the distal tip of the core wire. Limiting the axial movement of the core wire distal tip may cause the loop of the core wire to buckle, resulting in a bend in the distal bending segment of the sheath, when a force is exerted on the core wire.

A method for producing a guidewire, the method includes producing a position sensor by providing a shaft-section having a solid profile, which is sized and shaped to move in an anatomical material transportation system. A wire is wound around an axis of the shaft-section and first and second ends of the wire are coupled to respective first and second locations on an outer surface of the shaft-section. A guidewire-shaft is provided, and the position sensor is coupled to a distal end of the guidewire-shaft.

A delivery member is provided for delivering and deploying an implantable medical device. The delivery member includes a distal hypotube, a flexible tubular section, a proximal hypotube, a lumen extending through the distal hypotube, flexible tubular section, and proximal hypotube, a stretch resistant member, and a flexible sleeve. The stretch resistant tube can be positioned outside of the lumen, affixed to the proximal and distal hypotubes, and extending along at least a portion of an outer surface of the flexible tubular section. The flexible sleeve can comprise one or more stretch resistant fibers positioned within a wall of the flexible sleeve. The flexible sleeve can cover at least a majority of an outer surface of the flexible tubular section.

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.

Conventionally, a coil formed in an irregular shape is used on a distal end side of the coil of a guide wire or a distal joining section is used on the tip of the guide wire to shorten a length in a longitudinal direction of a rigid joint portion for improving the passing performance to the occluded lesion. However, it is not enough especially in the completely occluded lesion. Thus, it is an important technical problem to improve both the passing performance and safety. An outer coil having a coil inclined portion and a distal joining section connected with the coil inclined portion are provided on a distal end portion of the guide wire. In the coil inclined portion, each one turn of a coil wire is continuously inclined in a longitudinal direction. Thus, both the passing performance and safety can be remarkably improved especially in the completely occluded lesion.

A method for measuring a distance in a body vessel and introducing an implant into the body vessel, the method comprising: providing a guide wire, wherein the guide wire comprises a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the distal end comprises a spiral which has at least two adjoining spiral sections as markings, wherein at least a surface of one spiral section comprises a first material and at least a surface of the second spiral section comprises a second material, and further wherein the first material is different than the second material; inserting the guide wire into the body vessel; measuring the distance in the body vessel using the markings on the guide wire; and delivering the implant over the guide wire to the body vessel.

Three groups of guidewire embodiments are described with particularly suitable structures for navigating circuitous vessels, especially blood vessels of the brain. Some of the guidewires have a hyperbolic taper that provides desired flexibility. In some embodiments, an integrated guide structure provides for extension in the blood vessel of a corewire to provide for extended reach of the guidewire. In further embodiments, the guidewire has a flexible tip that can be guided directly by the flow in the vessel.

A wire guide includes a solid core mandrel that is initially received in a flat wire coil that has a rest inner diameter that is greater than a uniform diameter of the solid core mandrel. The flat wire of the flat wire coil is in tension between a proximal location and a distal location so that the flat wire coil has a reduced inner diameter that is smaller than its rest inner diameter. The tension in the flat wire is introduced by torquing the mandrel relative to the flat wire coil as part of attaching the coil to the mandrel.

A guide wire includes a core shaft having an elongated outer shape, a first coil body disposed to surround a distal end portion of the core shaft, a second coil body disposed radially outside from the first coil body, and a distal tip fixing a distal end of the core shaft and a distal end of the first coil body. In the longitudinal direction of the core shaft, a distal end of the second coil body is positioned between the distal end of the first coil body and a proximal end of the first coil body, a proximal end of the second coil body is positioned on the more proximal end side than the proximal end of the first coil body, and bending stiffness of the first coil body is smaller than bending stiffness of the second coil body.