摘要 |
A catheter guidewire has a relatively flexible distal portion to facilitate the steering of the guidewire through the cardiovascular system of a subject and the capability of the guidewire to reach a deposit region within a relatively tortuous portion of the cardiovascular system. The guidewire also has a relatively stiff proximal portion to facilitate the pushing of the guidewire through the cardiovascular system from an entry point of the subject. For one embodiment, the guidewire includes a corewire and a sleeve secured to the corewire such that the sleeve surrounds a proximal portion of the corewire. The sleeve is formed from a material having a relatively greater stiffness than the material for the corewire. The sleeve may be formed from stainless steel, for example, to provide for a relatively stiff proximal portion of a corewire formed from a material exhibiting superelastic properties, such as a nickel-titanium or Nitinol alloy for example.
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