HIGHLY PRECISE PTFE COATING FOR STAINLESS STEEL AND NITINOL HYPODERMIC TUBING

摘要

Medical device designers are using fine diameter hypodermic tubes increasingly as an alternative for the conventional wire for many of the medical applications including catheters for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) applications, corewires for neurology, embolic protection, and carotid artery therapy. Hypodermic tube catheter shafts made from nitinol or stainless steel are an excellent choice for minimally-invasive catheter procedures because they can be designed with varying degrees of trackability and torque. Hypodermic tubes are often coated with polytertafluroethylene (PTFE), a high-molecular weight hydrophobic fluropolymer of tetrafluroethylene that offers many advantages including excellent flexibility, high-column strength and pushability, torquability, and superior lubricity for easy insertion and removal.