Patent ID: 7670526

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a discrete length guidewire, comprising the steps of: feeding a first end of a discrete length corewire into an extrusion device, the corewire having a length corresponding to a length of the guidewire; gripping the first end of the corewire with a gripping apparatus; extruding a first extrusion material onto an outer surface at a point along the corewire while the gripping apparatus pulls the corewire through the extrusion device to form an extrusion jacket on the outer surface of the corewire; after extruding the first extrusion material at the point along the corewire, extruding a second extrusion material onto the extrusion jacket over the point of the corewire while the gripping apparatus pulls the corewire through the extrusion device; and rotating the gripping apparatus to rotate the entire length of the corewire during the step of extruding the second extrusion material, the second extrusion material forming a helical stripe on the extrusion jacket of the corewire during the step of rotating the gripping apparatus, wherein the second extrusion material is visually distinct from the first extrusion material.