Claims
- 1. An apparatus for manufacturing a small diameter medical device comprising:
a die; a style puller used to engage a functional end of the medical device; and a die room puller used to draw the medical device through the die.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of dies wherein a subsequent die has a diameter smaller than a previous die enabling a stepwise reduction in a diameter of the medical device until reaching a final diameter of the medical device.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the die is capable of reducing the diameter of the medical device by about 1% to about 5% with each draw of the medical device through the die.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the die is lubricated during the draw.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the style puller further comprises a chuck-like grasper to grasp the functional end of the medical device.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the die includes a front lead-in on a front side of the die and a back lead-in on a back side of the die.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the front lead-in and the back lead-in are bell-shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the back lead-in is bell shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the final diameter of the medical device is less than 0.020 inches.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the medical device is a probe used for delivering ultrasonic energy in a transverse mode.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the style puller comprises a chuck-like grasper which engages a functional end of the medical device and draws the medical device through the die.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the style puller further comprises a handle which when moved from a first position to a second position delivers a mechanical force to the style puller, drawing the medical device through the die.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the style puller comprises a plurality of teeth which are engaged by a ratcheting element as the handle is moved from the first position to the second position whereby the medical device is drawn through the die in a forward direction.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the draw on the medical device reverses as the handle returns from the second position to the first position, thereby allowing for introduction of segments of decreasing diameter along a length of the medical device.
- 15. An apparatus for manufacturing a small diameter medical device comprising:
a die having a front side with a front lead-in and a back side with a back lead-in wherein the medical device is drawn through the die.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein a final diameter of the medical device is less than 0.020 inches.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising a plurality of dies where a subsequent die has a diameter smaller than the previous die enabling a stepwise reduction in a diameter of the medical device until reaching a final diameter of the medical device.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the front lead-in and the back lead-in are bell shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw of the medical device through the die.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the back lead-in is bell shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw of the medical device through the die.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the die is capable of reducing a diameter of the medical device by about 1% to about 5% with each draw of the medical device through the die.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the die is lubricated during draw.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the medical device is a probe used for delivering ultrasonic energy in a transverse mode.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the die is made of tungsten carbide.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the die is made of diamond.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein a style puller and a die room puller are used to draw the medical device through the die.
- 26. A method of manufacturing a small diameter medical device comprising:
heat treating a large diameter medical device through an annealing process; and drawing the large diameter medical device through a die to yield a small diameter medical device.
- 27. The method of claim 26 wherein a final diameter of at least a portion of the small diameter medical device is less than 0.020 inches.
- 28. The method of claim 26 further comprising providing a plurality of dies where a subsequent die has a diameter smaller than the previous die enabling a stepwise reduction in a diameter of the medical device until reaching a final diameter of the medical device.
- 29. The method of claim 28 further comprising heat treating the medical device prior to drawing the medical device through each die of the plurality of dies.
- 30. The method of claim 26 further comprising heat treating the device after drawing the device through the die in order to minimize work hardening that will have taken place during draw.
- 31. The method of claim 26 wherein the die includes a front lead-in on a front side of the die and a back lead-in on a back side of the die.
- 32. The method of claim 31 wherein the front lead-in and the back lead-in are bell shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw.
- 33. The method of claim 32 wherein the back lead-in is bell shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw.
- 34. The method of claim 32 wherein reversing the direction of the draw provides a medical device having a varying diameter along a length of the medical device.
- 35. The method of claim 26 wherein the device is a probe used for delivering ultrasonic energy in a transverse mode.
- 36. The method of claim 26 wherein the device is drawn manually through the die.
- 37. The method of claim 26 wherein the device is drawn mechanically through the die.
- 38. The method of claim 26 further comprising shaping a functional end of the medical device by a process of mechanical shaping.
- 39. The method of claim 38 wherein the functional end is shaped by a process of swaging.
- 40. A method of manufacturing a small diameter medical device from a large diameter medical device comprising the steps of:
(1) drawing the large diameter medical device through a die thereby reducing a diameter of the medical device; and (2) reversing the draw of the medical device through the die to provide a medical device having a varying diameter along a length of the medical device wherein steps 1, and 2 are repeated until the diameter of the medical device is less than 0.020 inches.
- 41. The method of claim 40 further comprising providing a plurality of dies where a subsequent die has a diameter smaller than the previous die enabling a stepwise reduction in a diameter of the medical device until reaching a final diameter of the medical device.
- 42. The method of claim 40 wherein the die is capable of reducing the diameter of the medical device by about 1% to about 5% with each draw of the medical device through the draw.
- 43. The method of claim 40 wherein the medical device is a probe used for delivering ultrasonic energy in a transverse mode.
- 44. The method of claim 40 wherein the method increases the flexibility of the medical device thereby improving the ability of the probe to vibrate in a transverse mode.
- 45. The method of claim 40 wherein the die comprises a front lead-in on a front side of the die and a back lead-in on a back side of the die.
- 46. The method of claim 45 wherein the front lead-in and the back lead-in are bell shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw.
- 47. The method of claim 45 wherein the back lead-in is bell shaped allowing reversal of the direction of the draw.
- 48. The method of claim 40 wherein the medical device is mechanically drawn through the die.
- 49. The method of claim 40 wherein a style puller is used to draw the medical device through the die.
- 50. The method of claim 49 further comprising a die room puller used to draw the medical device through the die.
- 51. The method of claim 50 wherein a the style puller comprises a chuck-like grasper which engages a functional end of the medical device and serves to draw the medical device through the die.
- 52. The method of claim 51 wherein the style puller further comprises a handle which when moved from a first position to a second position delivers a mechanical force to the style puller, drawing the medical device through the die.
- 53. The method of claim 52 wherein the style puller comprises a series of teeth which are engaged by a ratcheting element as the handle is moved from a first position to a second position whereby the medical device is drawn through the die in a forward direction.
- 54. The method of claim 53 wherein the the draw on the device reverses as the handle returns from the second position to the first position, thereby allowing for introduction of segments of decreasing diameter along a length of the medical device.
- 55. The method of claim 40 further comprising heat treating the large diameter medical device before drawing the large diameter medical device through a die.
- 56. The method of claim 55 wherein heat treating the large diameter medical device comprises an annealing process.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/274,037, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Manufacturing Small Diameter Medical Devices”, filed on Mar. 7, 2001 by inventors Robert A. Rabiner, Bradley A. Hare, and Janniah S. Prasad, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60274037 |
Mar 2001 |
US |