Patent ID: 8574219

Claim:
A medical catheter comprising: a manifold assembly including a bore extending therethrough, the bore of the manifold assembly in fluid communication with a lumen of the medical catheter; and an elongate shaft extending distally from the manifold assembly, the elongate shaft including: a metallic tubular member extending distally from the manifold assembly, the metallic tubular member formed of a monolithic tubular body including a plurality of annular ring portions interconnected by a plurality of beams extending transverse to the annular ring portions by the removal of material of the tubular body between adjacent annular rings to form a plurality of apertures therein to provide a desired degree of lateral flexibility to the metallic tubular member, the metallic tubular member including a proximal region having an outer diameter, a distal region having an outer diameter different from the outer diameter of the proximal region wherein the outer diameter of the distal region is greater than the outer diameter of the proximal region, and a tapered region intermediate the proximal region and the distal region to provide a transition between the outer diameter of the proximal region and the outer diameter of the distal region; and a polymeric distal tip extending distally from the metallic tubular member to a distal end of the medical catheter; wherein the lumen of the medical catheter extends through the polymeric distal tip to the distal end of the medical catheter; and wherein a proximal portion of the metallic tubular member extends into the bore of the manifold assembly.