BALLOON CATHETER SHAFT HAVING HIGH STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME

摘要

A catheter (10) having an elongated shaft (11) with a tubular member (22) which forms at least a portion of the shaft and which is formed of a biaxially oriented thermoplastic polymeric material, and a method of forming the catheter shaft by radially and longitudinally expanding the tubular member to biaxially orient the polymeric material, and, in one embodiment, tapering the tubular member to form a bending stiffness transition. A catheter of the invention has an improved combination of low bending stiffness, high rupture pressure, and high tensile strength^ for improved catheter performance.