Importance

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Abstract

A catheter device for therapeutic and diagnostic use within a human vascular system has a catheter body with a hub located at a proximal end of the catheter body, and a tip located at a distal end of the body. A guide structure is connected to the catheter body proximate the tip, with the guide structure having a wing shape that provides hemodynamic lift in response to laminar blood flow around the catheter. The wing shape of the guide structure tapers down from a leading edge to a trailing edge, with the leading edge facing the catheter tip so that when the catheter is positioned inside a vessel wall of the vascular system and oriented in a downstream direction, the lift created by the laminar blood flow biases the catheter tip toward the vessel wall. Preferably, the distal end of the catheter body comprises a flexible material so that the catheter tip can deflect laterally towards the vessel wall in response to the hemodynamic lift. An intermediate section of the catheter body between the hub and the tip provides a semi-rigid control connection whereby pushing, pulling, and rotation of the hub produces a corresponding movement of the catheter tip.

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First Claim