초록

A catheter introducer has a tubular sheath with a relatively rigid tubular body and a soft flexible tubular tip for reducing sheath buckling tendencies.

대표청구항 ▼

A catheter introducer comprising a body portion formed from a thin-walled flexible tube for extending into a body cavity or blood vessel, the body portion being sized to receive a catheter therein and permit the catheter to pass therethrough so as to guide the catheter during insertion and placement

A catheter introducer comprising a body portion formed from a thin-walled flexible tube for extending into a body cavity or blood vessel, the body portion being sized to receive a catheter therein and permit the catheter to pass therethrough so as to guide the catheter during insertion and placement of the catheter in the cavity or vessel, a valve housing at a proximal end of the body portion having a seal therein through which a catheter is inserted into the introducer so as to maintain a fluid-tight relationship with the body cavity or blood vessel to prevent leakage therefrom, a tip portion formed from a thin-walled flexible tube attached to the distal end of the body portion, said tip portion being sized to receive the catheter and permit the catheter to pass therethrough, said tube forming the body portion having sufficient rigidity and columnar strength to withstand forces applied by a physician to drive the tip portion through tissue stretched by a dilator around an opening through which a guide wire extends, and said tube forming the tip portion including a polymer material rendering the tip portion substantially more flexible than the tube forming the body portion.