Patent ID: 7022102

Claim:
A combination catheter comprising: a catheter tube having an internal lumen extending substantially the length of the catheter tube, said catheter tube having an outside diameter sufficiently small so that the catheter tube may be inserted into the human body, said catheter tube having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis, the catheter tube further having a first distal end portion controllably formed into a first curve having a first radius of curvature; an inner medical element disposed in the lumen of the catheter tube, said inner medical element having a distal end portion controllably formed in a second curve having a second radius of curvature, said inner medical element also having a longitudinal axis; the most proximal of the first and second curves in operation being a direction defining curve, the longitudinal axis of the catheter tube immediately proximal the direction defining curve defining an up-going direction and an opposite down-going direction, the up-going direction being parallel to the longitudinal axis immediately proximal the direction defining curve and being that direction in which any fluid flowing through the catheter tube immediately proximal the direction defining curve would flow if the fluid were passing from the proximal to the distal end of the catheter tube; means for proximally holding the inner medical element against rotational and translational movement with respect to the catheter tube in a first rotational position such that the shape of the distal end portion of the combination catheter formed by the catheter tube and the inner medical element is up-going, said holding means being capable of proximally holding the inner medical element against rotational and translational movement with respect to the catheter tube in a second rotational position such that the shape of the distal end portion of the combination catheter is down-going; the first curve being disposed a distance from the extreme distal tip of the catheter tube not substantially greater than three times the smaller of the first and second radii of curvature, and said second curve being disposed a distance from the extreme distal tip of the inner medical element not substantially greater than three times the smaller of the first and second radii of curvature.