Patent ID: 7909779
Filing Date: 2011-03-22
Classification: A61M

Abstract:
1. A hollow catheter body configured to be inserted into a human body comprising: a coil body constituted by coils of a plurality of wires adjacent to one another wound or stranded in the same general direction, said coil body comprising a distal portion located at a front portion of the coil body with respect to a direction of insertion into the human body, a tip-tapered part provided in the distal portion, both an inner diameter and an outer diameter of the tip-tapered part are decreased toward a distal end of the distal portion, and a proximal portion located at a rear portion of the coil body with respect to the direction of insertion into the human body, wherein the coils of the coil body in the tip-tapered part have a reduced wire-thickness in an axial direction of the catheter body than the coils of the coil body in the proximal portion while the proximal portion and the distal portion of the coil body are prepared by winding or stranding the plurality of wires adjacent to one another at a constant pitch, wherein each distance Wd between the wires having the reduced wire-thickness adjacent to each other within the plurality of wires in the tip-tapered part is greater than each distance Wp between the wires adjacent to each other within the plurality of wires in the proximal portion, when seen in a cross section of the catheter body, wherein each wire in the tip-tapered part has a substantially semicircular cross sectional shape and is not in touch with the adjacent wire to form the distance Wd, wherein the plurality of wires in the proximal portion is formed by closely winding or stranding the plurality of wires to form the distance Wp.