Catheter shaft comprising welded tubes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9682211-B2
Application number	US-201313789186-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2013
Priority date	Mar 29, 2012
Publication date	Jun 20, 2017
Grant date	Jun 20, 2017

Abstract

One embodiment of the invention relates to a catheter shaft comprising (i) a first tube made of an extrudable copolymer that has reactive groups, and (ii) a second tube made of a polymeric material, which can be welded to the first tube, wherein the polymeric material of the second tube can be welded to the first tube at a temperature ≦200° C.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A catheter shaft comprising
(i) a first tube made of an extrudable fluorinated copolymer that has reactive groups, and (ii) a second tube made of a polymeric material, which is welded to the first tube, wherein a lumen of the second tube is welded to the first tube with a flat weld or a plurality of local spot welds along a circumference of the catheter shaft, and the diameters and wall thicknesses of the first tube and the second tube are matched to one another such that the outer wall surface of the first tube contacts the inner wall surface of the second tube or leaves a small weld gap between the first tube and the second tube.

2. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorinated copolymer is a copolymer of a polymer selected from the group comprising ETFE (polytetrafluorothylene+ethylene), C-ETFE (polychlorotrifluoroethylene+ethylene), PFA (polytetrafluoroethylene+perfluoropropylether), FEP (polytetrafluoroethylene+perfluoropropylene), PCTFE (polychlorotrifluoroethylene), PVF (polyvinyl fluoride) and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride).

3. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the reactive groups are selected from the group comprising carbonic acid, carbonic acid chloride, amide, carbonic acid anhydride, ester, lactone, lactam, nitrile and thioester.

4. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the polymeric material of the second tube is selected from the group comprising polyamide, PEBA (polyether block amide), polyester or TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers).

5. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the first tube is made of PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) grafted with maleic acid anhydride as one of the reactive groups, and the second tube is made of polyamide 12 or PEBA (polyether block amide).

6. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the tubes remain welded to one another, unchanged, at a pressure of 20 bar for ≧1 min.

7. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the catheter shaft is included in a medical device.

8. The medical device according to claim 7 , selected from the group comprising a catheter stent insertion device or a balloon dilation catheter, in particular in an RX (rapid exchange) or over the wire design.

9. The catheter shaft as defined by claim 1 wherein the first tube is made of PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) grafted with maleic acid anhydride as one of the reactive groups.

10. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the polymeric material of the first and second tubes are configured to achieve welded attachment with welding performed at a temperature ≦200° C.

11. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second tube are welded with a plurality of spot weld connections.

12. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second tube are welded to interconnect at least an entire circumference of the first and second tube in the region of at least one tube section.

13. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of an outer surface of the first tube is welded to at least portion of an inner surface of the second tube.

14. The catheter shaft according to claim 1 , wherein the first tube is arranged as an inner tube made of fluorinated modified PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) and the second tube is arranged as an outer tube made of a thermoplastic polymer material.

15. A catheter shaft comprising
(i) a first tube made of an extrudable fluorinated copolymer that has reactive groups, and (ii) a second tube made of a polymeric material, which is welded to the first tube, wherein a lumen of the second tube is welded to the first tube with a flat weld or at least one spot weld, and the diameters and wall thicknesses of the first tube and the second tube are matched to one another such that the outer wall surface of the first tube contacts the inner wall surface of the second tube or leaves a small weld gap between the first tube and the second tube.

16. The catheter shaft according to claim 15 , the flat weld or at least one spot weld interconnects at least an entire circumference of the first tube and second tube in the region of at least one tube section.

17. The catheter shaft according to claim 15 , wherein the reactive groups are selected from the group comprising carbonic acid, carbonic acid chloride, amide, carbonic acid anhydride, ester, lactone, lactam, nitrile and thioester.

18. The catheter shaft according to claim 15 , wherein the polymeric material of the second tube is selected from the group comprising polyamide, PEBA (polyether block amide), polyester or TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers).

19. The catheter shaft according to claim 15 , wherein the first tube is made of PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) grafted with maleic acid anhydride as one of the reactive groups, and the second tube is made of polyamide 12 or PEBA (polyether block amide).

20. The catheter shaft according to claim 15 , wherein the tubes remain welded to one another, unchanged, at a pressure of 20 bar for ≧1 min.

21. The catheter shaft according to claim 15 , wherein the catheter shaft is included in a medical device.

22. The medical device according to claim 21 , selected from the group comprising a catheter stent insertion device or a balloon dilation catheter, in particular in an RX (rapid exchange) or over the wire design.

23. The catheter shaft according to claim 15 , wherein the fluorinated copolymer is a copolymer of a polymer selected from the group comprising ETFE (polytetrafluorothylene+ethylene), C-ETFE (polychlorotrifluoroethylene+ethylene), PFA (polytetrafluoroethylene+perfluoropropylether), FEP (polytetrafluoroethylene+perfluoropropylene), PCTFE (polychlorotrifluoroethylene), PVF (polyvinyl fluoride) and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride).

Assignees

• Biotronik Ag

Inventors

• Schwitzer Alwin
• Lang Hans

Classifications

• A61L29/041 Primary

  obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds · CPC title

• A61M25/0043

  characterised by structural features · CPC title

• A61M25/0009 Primary

  Making of catheters or other medical or surgical tubes · CPC title

• C08L27/12

  containing fluorine atoms · CPC title