Inventors:
Joseph Armstrong - Flagstaff AZ, US
Edward Cully - Flagstaff AZ, US
John Daugherty - Flagstaff AZ, US
Eric Johnson - Flagstaff AZ, US
David King - Wilmington DE, US
Mark Ulm - Flagstaff AZ, US
Michael Vonesh - Flagstaff AZ, US
International Classification:
A61M025/01
Abstract:
A catheter provided with an adjustable length guidewire catheter lumen, located proximal of a therapeutic device or agent positioned at the distal end of the catheter. The length of the adjustable length guidewire catheter lumen is controlled by the physician, allowing the benefits of both over-the-wire and rapid exchange systems to be provided in one catheter. The adjustable length is provided with a thin-walled tube that corrugates under axial compression. The tube may optionally be pre-corrugated or may be allowed to corrugate non-uniformly under the axial compression. The catheter length may change by, for example, over 100% of its original length between full axial compression and full axial extension.