GUIDE CATHETER WITH LUBRICIOUS INNER LINER

摘要

A catheter shaft is disclosed utilizing perfluoroalkoxy polytetrafluoroethylene (PFA) as a lubricious inner lumen for which to aid the advancement of additional medical devices. PFA possesses adequate lubricity while requiring no special fabricating techniques. Thus, PFA may be processed by conventional melt-extrusion techniques, as well as by injection, compression, rotational transfer, and blow molding processes; optimizing the manufacturability of the lubricious inner lumen. Additionally, the catheter shaft includes portions of the outer tubular member modified through an ablation process. The ablation process selectively removes extruded polymeric material around and between the contours of a braided support layer. In one illustrative embodiment, a portion of the outer layer of the catheter is removed by laser ablation and then refilled by polymeric inserts having various flexibility characteristics.