Guide wire

Abstract

To provide a guide wire for enabling a direction of a distal end part of the guide wire to be easily changed.SOLUTION: A guide wire 10 includes: a core shaft 11; a coil 12 for covering an outer peripheral surface 11s of the core shaft 11 and extending from a proximal end part 11a of the core shaft 11 to the distal end part 11b along an axial direction X of the core shaft 11; and at least one operation wire 13 extending in the axial direction X. A first part 131 on the proximal end side of the operation wire 13 is positioned on an outside of the coil 12 with an opening 12c located on the proximal end side of the coil 12 as a boundary. A second part 132 on a distal end side of the operation wire 13 is positioned between the core shaft 11 and the coil 12 with the opening 12c as a boundary. A distal end part 13b of the operation wire 13 is joined with a distal end side 12b of the coil 12 at a distal end joining part 14.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a guidewire. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, guidewires are used to guide catheter-like medical instruments, which are inserted into tubular organs of the human body, such as blood vessels and digestive organs, to a target site.

[0003] A guidewire in which the entire length of an elastic core shaft is covered with a coil is known. Fig. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of an example of such a guidewire. A guidewire 500 shown in Fig. 7 includes a core shaft 501 and a coil 502 that covers the outer circumferential surface of the core shaft 501 and extends from a base end 501a to a tip end 501b of the core shaft 501. The base end 501a of the core shaft 501 and the base end 502a of the coil 502 are joined at a base end joint 503. The tip end 501b of the core shaft 501 and the tip end 502b of the coil 502 are joined at a tip joint 504. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] 7, it may become difficult to advance or retreat or rotate within a complexly meandering and twisted blood vessel, and the guidewire 500 may become stuck. In such a case, it is difficult to orient the tip portion 500b in the direction of the blood vessel's curvature, even if the guidewire 500 is pushed and pulled within the blood vessel. There is also a risk that the blood vessel may be damaged by pushing and pulling the guidewire 500 within the blood vessel.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a guidewire that allows the direction of the tip portion of the guidewire to be easily changed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a guidewire comprising: a core shaft; a coil covering the outer peripheral surface of the core shaft and extending along the axial direction of the core shaft from a base end to a tip end of the core shaft; and at least one operating wire extending along the axial direction, wherein a first portion of the operating wire on the base end side is located outside the coil, with an opening located on the base end side of the coil as a boundary, and a second portion of the operating wire on the tip side is located between the core shaft and the coil, with the opening as a boundary, and the tip end of the operating wire and the tip end of the coil are joined at a tip joint (Invention 1).

[0007] According to this invention (Invention 1), when the first portion of the manipulation wire is pulled toward the base end of the guide wire, the manipulation wire is pulled out from the opening to the outside of the coil, thereby bending the tip portion of the guide wire. Therefore, the direction of the tip portion of the guide wire can be easily changed.

[0008] In the above invention (Invention 1), the operating wire is movable relative to the core shaft in the axial direction (Invention 2).

[0009] According to this invention (Invention 2), the direction of the tip portion of the guidewire can be easily changed.

[0010] The above inventions (Inventions 1 and 2) are configured such that when the first portion of the operating wire is pulled toward the base end of the guide wire, the operating wire is pulled out from the opening to the outside of the coil, thereby bending the tip portion of the guide wire (Invention 3).

[0011] According to this invention (Invention 3), the direction of the tip portion of the guidewire can be easily changed.

[0012] The above invention (Invention 1-3) may comprise two of the operation wires, and the two operation wires may be arranged to face each other in the radial direction of the core shaft (Invention 4).

[0013] According to this invention (Invention 4), the direction of the tip portion of the guidewire can be changed more flexibly.

[0014] In the above inventions (Inventions 1-4), it is preferable that the operating wire is made of a rectangular wire (Invention 5).

[0015] According to this invention (Invention 5), the movement of the first portion of the operation wire can be easily transmitted to the tip portion of the guide wire. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, when the first portion of the manipulation wire is pulled toward the base end of the guide wire, the manipulation wire is pulled out from the opening to the outside of the coil, thereby bending the tip portion of the guide wire, and therefore the direction of the tip portion of the guide wire can be easily changed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall cross-sectional view showing a structure of a guidewire according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a first portion of the manipulation wire in the guidewire of FIG. 1 is pulled toward the proximal end of the guidewire. FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is an overall cross-sectional view showing the structure of a guide wire according to a modified example. [Diagram 5] 5 is a diagram showing a state in which a first portion of one of the manipulation wires in the guidewire of FIG. 4 is pulled toward the proximal end of the guidewire. FIG. [Figure 6] 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4. [Figure 7]1 is an overall cross-sectional view showing the structure of a conventional guidewire in which the entire length of a core shaft is covered with a coil. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below, and the described embodiment is merely an example for explaining the technical features of the present invention. Furthermore, the shapes and dimensions shown in each drawing are shown only to facilitate understanding of the contents of the present invention, and do not accurately reflect the actual shapes and dimensions.

[0019] In this specification, the term "distal side" refers to the direction along the axial direction of the guidewire, in which the guidewire advances toward the target site. The term "base end side" refers to the direction along the axial direction of the guidewire, in the opposite direction to the distal side. The term "distal end" refers to the distal end of any member or site, and the term "base end" refers to the proximal end of any member or site. In addition, in Figs. 1 to 7, the left side of the figure is the "distal side" that is inserted into the body, and the right side of the figure is the "base side" that is operated by the operator.

[0020] Fig. 1 is an overall cross-sectional view showing the structure of a guidewire 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The guidewire 10 includes a long core shaft 11, a coil 12, and at least one operating wire 13. In the example shown in Fig. 1, there is one operating wire 13. The coil 12 covers an outer circumferential surface 11s of the core shaft 11 and extends from a base end portion 11a to a tip end portion 11b of the core shaft 11 along an axial direction X of the core shaft 11. As shown in Fig. 1, in the guidewire 10, the entire length of the core shaft 11 is covered by the coil 12.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the operation wire 13 extends along the axial direction X of the core shaft 11. A first portion 131 on the base end side of the operation wire 13 is located outside the coil 12, with an opening 12c located on the base end side of the coil 12 as a boundary. A second portion 132 on the tip side of the operation wire 13 is located between the core shaft 11 and the coil 12, with the opening 12c as a boundary. That is, the operation wire 13 is inserted from the outside to the inside of the coil 12 through the opening 12c. The operation wire 13 is movable relative to the core shaft 11 in the axial direction X. A base end portion 13a of the operation wire 13 is a free end portion. A tip end portion 13b of the operation wire 13 and a tip end portion 12b of the coil 12 are joined at a tip joint portion 14.

[0022] With such a structure, when the first portion 13a of the operation wire 13 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 10, the operation wire 13 is pulled out of the coil 12 from the opening 12c, thereby bending the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10. Therefore, the direction of the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10 can be easily changed. In addition, by adjusting the force pulling the first portion 13a of the operation wire 13, the bending angle of the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10 can be adjusted.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 in the guidewire 10 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 10. As shown in FIG. 2, when the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 10 (in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2), the operation wire 13 is pulled out from the opening 12c to the outside of the coil 12. Since the distal end portion 13b of the operation wire 13 and the distal end portion 12b of the coil 12 are joined at the distal end joint portion 14, the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 10 including the distal end portion 11b of the core shaft 11 is bent as the operation wire 13 is pulled out to the outside of the coil 12. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the operation wire 13 is located on the upper side in the figure, so when the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 10, the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 10 is bent upward in the figure. In order to return the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10 from the state shown in Figure 2 to the state shown in Figure 1, the first portion 131 of the operating wire 13 is simply pushed toward the tip side of the guidewire 10 (in the opposite direction to the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2).

[0024] In this manner, the guidewire 10 is configured such that when the first portion 131 of the operating wire 13 is pulled toward the base end of the guidewire 10, the operating wire 13 is pulled out from the opening 12c to the outside of the coil 12, thereby bending the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10.

[0025] 1, if it is desired to bend the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10 downward in the figure, the above-mentioned operation can be performed after rotating the guidewire 10 about the axial direction X to position the operating wire 13 on the lower side in the figure. By a similar operation, the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10 can be directed in the bending direction of the blood vessel regardless of the bending direction of the blood vessel.

[0026] Furthermore, by including the operation wire 13, the guidewire 10 can prevent a part of the guidewire 10 from remaining in the blood vessel even if, for example, the coil 12 breaks in the blood vessel. That is, the operation wire 13 can also function as a so-called safety wire.

[0027] 1 and 2, in the axial direction X, the length of the first portion 131 and the length of the second portion 132 of the operation wire 13 are not constant, but change as the operation wire 13 is pulled out from the opening 12c to the outside of the coil 12. In other words, the second portion 132 transitions to the first portion 131 as the operation wire 13 is pulled out from the opening 12c to the outside of the coil 12.

[0028] The core shaft 11 is a long member that serves as the axis of the guidewire 10. The core shaft 11 has a large diameter portion 111 on the base end side and a small diameter portion 112 on the tip end side. As shown in Fig. 1, the core shaft 11 may have a tapered portion 113 between the large diameter portion 111 and the small diameter portion 112, the outer diameter of which decreases from the base end side toward the tip end side.

[0029] The thin diameter portion 112 includes the tip portion 11b of the core shaft 11. As shown in Fig. 2, when the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 10, the thin diameter portion 112 may be bent relative to the tapered portion 113. If the core shaft 11 does not have the tapered portion 113 and the thick diameter portion 111 and the thin diameter portion 112 are continuous, when the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 10, the thin diameter portion 112 may be bent relative to the thick diameter portion 111.

[0030] The length of the thin diameter portion 112 is not particularly limited and can be set appropriately. The length of the thin diameter portion 112 is, for example, 0.5 cm or more and 6.0 cm or less.

[0031] The core shaft 11 is made of an elastic material, for example, stainless steel alloys (SUS304, SUS316, etc.), superelastic alloys such as Ni-Ti alloys, piano wire, nickel-chromium alloys, cobalt alloys, tungsten, etc.

[0032] In this embodiment, the coil 12 is a coil formed by densely winding a wire. The coil 12 is typically a single-strand coil in which one wire is densely wound, but may be a multi-strand coil in which multiple wires are arranged in a strip and then densely wound. The wire constituting the coil 12 may be a solid wire, or may be a stranded wire having a structure in which multiple stranded wires are twisted together.

[0033] The opening 12c of the coil 12 is located between adjacent wires on the base end side of the coil 12, and communicates between the outside and the inside of the coil 12. The opening 12c has a structure that allows the operation wire 13 to be inserted. The opening 12c is typically a gap provided by expanding the gap between adjacent wires on the base end side of the coil 12. However, when the operation wire 13 is not inserted, the opening 12c does not necessarily need to be open and may be closed. In other words, the opening 12c may be configured to open when the operation wire 13 is inserted, but close when the operation wire 13 is not inserted.

[0034] In the axial direction X, the length from the base end 12a of the coil 12 to the opening 12c is preferably 5.0 cm or less. With this structure, the first portion 131 of the operating wire 13 located outside the coil 12 is prevented from reducing the rotatability of the coil 12. Therefore, the direction of the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10 can be easily changed while maintaining the rotatability of the guidewire 10 by the coil 12. There is no particular limit to the length from the base end 12a of the coil 12 to the opening 12c. The lower limit is, for example, 0.5 cm.

[0035] The material forming the operation wire 13 is not particularly limited as long as it is a material having appropriate flexibility. Examples of such materials include metal, resin, etc. When the operation wire 13 is formed of a metal wire or a resin wire, the wire may be a solid wire material or a stranded wire material having a structure in which a plurality of stranded wires are twisted together.

[0036] It is preferable that the operation wire 13 is made of a rectangular wire. With such a structure, the movement of the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 can be easily transmitted to the distal end portion 10b of the guide wire 10.

[0037] Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 3, when the operation wire 13 is made of a rectangular wire, it is preferable that the operation wire 13 is arranged so that the direction perpendicular to the main surface of the rectangular wire coincides with the radial direction Y of the core shaft 11. With such a structure, the movement of the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 can be more easily transmitted to the tip portion 10b of the guide wire 10.

[0038] 3, in the radial direction Y, the operation wire 13 is preferably disposed at a position closer to the coil 12 than the core shaft 11. With such a structure, the movement of the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 can be transmitted to the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 10 more efficiently.

[0039] In the example shown in Fig. 1, the length of the core shaft 11 in the axial direction X is shorter than the length of the coil 12. As shown in Fig. 1, a space may exist between the tip portion 11b of the core shaft 11 and the tip joint portion 14 in the axial direction X. With such a structure, the flexibility of the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 10 can be improved.

[0040] Although not shown in the drawings, the length of core shaft 11 in the axial direction X may be the same as the length of coil 12. Tip portion 11b of core shaft 11, tip portion 13b of operating wire 13, and tip portion 12b of coil 12 may be joined at tip joint portion 14. With such a structure, the rigidity of guidewire 10 can be improved.

[0041] In this embodiment, the base end 11a of the core shaft 11 and the base end 12a of the coil 12 are joined at the base end joint 15. With such a structure, the rotatability of the guidewire 10 by the coil 12 can be fully exhibited.

[0042] In this embodiment, the distal joint 14 and the proximal joint 15 are made of a metal material. Examples of the metal material include brazing material and metal solder. Such metal materials impart higher strength than resin-based adhesives. Therefore, by providing the guidewire 10 with the distal joint 14 and the proximal joint 15 made of a metal material, the rigidity of the guidewire 10 can be improved. Examples of the brazing material that can be used include silver brazing or gold brazing. Examples of the metal solder that can be used include zinc, Sn-Ag alloy, Au-Sn alloy, etc.

[0043] (Modification) 4 is an overall cross-sectional view showing the structure of a modified guidewire 20. Except for the inclusion of two operating wires 13f, 13s, guidewire 20 has the same structure as the above-described guidewire 10. Therefore, elements common to guidewire 10 are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0044] Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 6, in the guidewire 20, two operation wires 13f, 13s are arranged to face each other in the radial direction Y. With this structure, the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 10 can be bent by pulling the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 to be bent, of the two operation wires 13f, 13s, toward the base end side of the guidewire 10. Since the guidewire 20 includes the two operation wires 13f, 13s arranged to face each other, the orientation of the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 20 can be changed more flexibly.

[0045] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13f in the guidewire 20 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 20. As shown in FIG. 5, when the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13 is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 20 (in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5), the operation wire 13f is pulled out from the opening 12c to the outside of the coil 12. Since the distal end portions 13b of the operation wires 13f and 13s and the distal end portion 12b of the coil 12 are joined at the distal end joint portion 14, the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 20 including the distal end portion 11b of the core shaft 11 is bent as the operation wire 13f is pulled out to the outside of the coil 12. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the operation wire 13f is located on the upper side in the figure, so when the first portion 131 of the operation wire 13f is pulled toward the base end side of the guidewire 20, the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 10 is bent in the upward direction in the figure.

[0046] 5, when it is desired to bend the distal end portion 10b of the guidewire 20 downward in the figure, the above-mentioned operation can be performed on the operating wire 13s. According to the guidewire 20 of the modified example, the amount of rotation of the guidewire 20 about the axial direction X can be reduced compared to the guidewire 10 described above.

[0047] Furthermore, by including the two operation wires 13f, 13s, the guidewire 20 can prevent a part of the guidewire 10 from remaining in the blood vessel even if, for example, one of the operation wires 13f, 13s breaks inside the blood vessel by the other operation wire 13. That is, the two operation wires 13f, 13s can also function as a so-called safety wire.

[0048] 6, in the radial direction Y of the core shaft 11, each of the operation wires 13f, 13s is preferably disposed at a position closer to the coil 12 than the core shaft 11. With such a structure, the movement of each of the first portions 131 of the operation wires 13f, 13s can be transmitted to the tip portion 10b of the guidewire 20 more efficiently.

[0049] Although the guidewire according to the present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the guidewire includes one operating wire and the guidewire includes two operating wires (modified example), but the guidewire may include, for example, three or more operating wires. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 10 Guidewire 11 Core shaft 11s outer surface 11a Proximal end 11b Tip 111 Large diameter section 112 Thin section 113 Tapered section 12 Coils 12a Proximal end 12b Tip 12c opening 13, 13f, 13s Operation wire 131 Part 1 132 Part 2 13a Proximal end 13b Tip 14 Tip joint 15 Proximal junction X-axis direction Y radial direction

Claims

1. A core shaft; a coil covering an outer circumferential surface of the core shaft and extending along an axial direction of the core shaft from a base end to a tip end of the core shaft; At least one operating wire extending along the axial direction, a first portion on a proximal end side of the operation wire is located outside the coil with an opening on a proximal end side of the coil as a boundary, a second portion of the operation wire on a distal end side is located between the core shaft and the coil with the opening as a boundary, A guide wire, wherein a tip end of the operating wire and a tip end of the coil are joined at a tip joint.

2. The guidewire of claim 1 , wherein the operating wire is movable relative to the core shaft in the axial direction.

3. The guidewire according to claim 1, wherein when the first portion of the operating wire is pulled toward the base end of the guidewire, the operating wire is pulled out of the coil through the opening, thereby bending the tip portion of the guidewire.

4. The two operating wires are provided, The guide wire according to claim 1 , wherein the two operating wires are disposed so as to face each other in a radial direction of the core shaft.

5. The guide wire according to claim 1 , wherein the operating wire is made of a rectangular wire.

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