Patent ID: 7241406

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a medical device, comprising the steps of: feeding a longitudinal element into an extrusion device, the longitudinal element having a predetermined length corresponding to a length of the medical device; pulling the longitudinal element through the extrusion device; and extruding an extrusion material onto an outer surface of the longitudinal element to form an extrusion jacket on an outer surface of the longitudinal element; wherein the pulling step includes a gripping apparatus pulling a first portion of the longitudinal element through the extrusion device at a first linear speed and further wherein the pulling step includes pulling a second portion of the longitudinal element through the extrusion device at a second linear speed different than the first linear speed, so that the extrusion material forms a taper on the medical device and the outer diameter of the extrusion jacket at the first portion is different than the outer diameter of the extrusion jacket at the second portion.