Coaxial guidewire for small vessel access

摘要

A coaxial guidewire for use in accessing smaller vessels within a patient's body, consists of an inner core wire and an outer hollow wire. The distal end of the inner core wire tapers and supports a spring coil. The core wire, including the spring coil, fits within a 25-gauge needle that is used to locate an artery of the patient. When the needle is removed over the inner core wire, the outer hollow wire, having a distal end that tapers to the outer diameter of the spring coil, fits over the inner wire and is advanced until the distal end of the outer wire meets the spring coil of the core wire. A dilator and introducer sheath combination may then be fed over the assembled coaxial guidewire. When the distal end of the sheath is in the desired position, the dilator and the coaxial guidewire are removed.

主权项

1. A coaxial guidewire utilized to introduce a sheath within a vessel of a human body, the coaxial guidewire comprising:
an inner guidewire, including a spring coil that is affixed to distal end of a core wire and has a proximal end that is attached to the core wire,the inner guidewire being sized to pass through a needle that is sized to be placed within the vessel of the human body; and a hollow outer guidewire having
a distal end that tapers to an outer diameter of the spring coil that is affixed to the distal end of the inner guidewire, andan inner diameter that allows the hollow guidewire to advance over a proximal end of the inner guidewire, the hollow outer guidewire being configured to be advanced over a proximal end of the inner guidewire until the distal end meets the spring coil affixed to the distal end of the core wire to assemble the coaxial guidewire, the hollow guidewire and the inner guidewire being capable of sliding relative to each other; the core wire being configured to extend proximally to a proximal end of the hollow outer guide wire when the distal end meets the spring coil; and the hollow outer guidewire having a distal opening with an inner diameter less than the outer diameter of the spring coil.