Patent ID: 8221343

Claim:
A vibrational catheter for disrupting obstructions in lumens such as blood vessels, the catheter comprising: an elongate flexible catheter body having a proximal end, a distal end and at least one lumen extending longitudinally therethrough; a vibrational transmission member extending longitudinally through the lumen of the catheter body and having a proximal end and a distal end; and a transition connector attached to the proximal end of the vibrational transmission member for coupling the transmission member with a vibrational energy source, the transition connector comprising a bore into which the proximal end of the vibrational transmission member extends, wherein the proximal end of the vibrational transmission member is attached within the bore of the transition connector with variable attachment forces such that the transition connector exerts a substantially lower amount of attachment force on an attached distal-most portion of the vibrational transmission member housed within the bore so as to reduce stress on the vibrational transmission member at a distal end of the transition connector at least when the vibrational transmission member receives vibrational energy from the vibrational energy source.