Patent ID: 8088121

Claim:
A catheter, comprising a distal-end-sided shaft of resin tube, a proximal-end-sided shaft more rigid than the distal-end-sided shaft, and a guide wire lumen allowing incorporation of a guide wire inside and having a distal opening and a proximal opening, the guide wire lumen forms the distal opening in the most distal end region of the catheter and the proximal opening in the middle of the distal-end-sided shaft; the distal end region of the proximal-end-sided shaft is connected to the proximal terminal of the distal-end-sided shaft; the distal-end-sided shaft includes the distal-end-sided shaft proximal region and the distal-end-sided shaft distal region; a core wire for adjustment of the flexibility of the distal-end-sided shaft proximal region is so placed in the catheter that the distal-end-sided shaft proximal region becomes harder than the distal-end-sided shaft distal region and softer than the proximal-end-sided shaft; and the core wire is connected to the distal-end-sided shaft adjacent to the proximal opening of the guide wire lumen and in part of the distal-end-sided shaft proximal region, wherein the core wire is connected to the internal surface of the distal-end-sided shaft as it is covered with a thermoplastic resin layer in the area where the core wire is connected to the distal-end-sided shaft.