| 摘要 |
A kink-resistant catheter, such as a balloon dilation catheter (10) useful in endoscopic or other surgical procedures, includes a flexible nitinol wire (24) having a transition temperature well above the temperature of the body. The catheter (10) remains essentially unkinked through acute bends and turns which would unacceptably kink comparable catheters having wires of stainless steel or other materials. The potential for patient injury from the catheter is thereby reduced. The catheter (10) includes a tubular catheter shaft (12) having a fluid flow lumen (14) defined therein, an expandable but nondistending balloon (18) connected to a distal end (16) of the shaft (12) in fluid communication with the lumen (14), and a flexible catheter tip (22) on the balloon (18) opposite the catheter shaft (12). The nitinol wire (24) preferably extends the entire length of the catheter shaft (12) through the flow lumen (14) and includes a tapered portion (28) extending from a location (30) within the balloon (18) to a distal end (26) of the nitinol wire (24) in the flexible catheter tip (22). The longitudinal positions of the nitinol wire (24) and the balloon (18) relative to one another are fixed by a radiopaque insert (32) in the distal end (16) of the catheter shaft (12), crimped about the nitinol wire (24). |
