Patent ID: 8535242

Claim:
A discrete length corewire to be used in manufacturing a guidewire, comprising: a first end section of a substantially constant first end section diameter; a tip section having a diameter less than the first end section diameter; a tapered section between the first end section and the tip section; a second end section of a substantially constant second end section diameter detachably connected to a distal end of the tip section, the second end section diameter being greater than the diameter of the tip section and the first end section diameter; wherein the second end section is configured to center the tip section as the corewire is passed through an extrusion apparatus and the second end section is configured to be detached from the corewire so as to define the tip section as a distal tip of the corewire; and a concentric jacket of extrusion material extruded onto an outer surface of the tip section; wherein an outer diameter of the jacket is the same as or greater than the second end section diameter.