摘要 |
Disclosed herein are various types of guidewires that are provided with spaced indicia to indicate the distance that a guidewire is extended into a vascular vessel, catheter or other instruments. That is, there are disclosed J-type, linear type and steerable type guidewires. Preferably the indicia is made up of a system of marks to indicate various units of measurements, for example units of 10, with narrow bands representing the units such as 10, 20, 30 and 40 while wider bands represent units of 50. If the guidewire is a double ended guidewire then the indicia would represent progressively higher indicia from each end of the linear part of the guidewire. Preferably the marks are formed by electro-chemical etching of the metal wire forming at least a part of the guidewire and if desired may be provided with a clear plastic coating that is non-toxic and bio-compatible. The marks may be formed by other process, for example laser treatment.
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