Patent ID: 8758333

Claim:
A fiber optic guidewire comprising: a hypotube having a monolithic body, the monolithic body including a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end having a distal end termination; an adhesive plug within the distal end of the hypotube and having a distal face substantially flush with the distal end termination of the hypotube; a plurality of optical fibers disposed within the hypotube, wherein the optical fibers extend through the adhesive plug and have a distal face terminating substantially at the distal face of the adhesive plug; the adhesive plug surrounding the optical fibers and bonding the fibers within the distal end of the hypotube; and the hypotube is comprised of at least one distal segment having an outer surface with a plurality of openings providing variable stiffness and tracking characteristics between at least one proximal segment and one distal segment of the guidewire, wherein the openings are formed by a plurality of hoops such that each hoop is coupled with an adjacent hoop via a brace, wherein the adhesive plug comprises projections that extend radially outward from a central longitudinal axis of the hypotube and within at least one of the plurality of openings, and wherein the hypotube is configured to transfer torque applied to the proximal segment through to the distal segment via the monolithic body of the hypotube.