Infusion catheter

Claim 1

A catheter comprising: an elongated flexible tube having a distal end, a peripheral wall, proximal and distal openings and an elongated passage extending generally axially through the tube between said openings; a helically wound wire engaging the peripheral wall of the tube, said helically wound wire including a plurality of turns and providing increased column strength, said tube with said helically wound wire therein being flexible; said wire having an inner surface, an outer surface, end faces, an axial cross-sectional dimension which extends axially of said passage between said end faces and a radial cross-sectional dimension which extends radially of said passage between said inner surface and said outer surface, said axial cross-sectional dimension being greater than said radial cross-sectional dimension; and said helically wound wire having an outer peripheral surface and being wound and configured so as to provide said outer peripheral surface with an anticlastic curvature, said tube being in tight engagement with the outer peripheral surface of said helically wound wire and being deformed thereby so as to provide the outer peripheral surface of the tube with an uneven contour over at least a portion of the length of the tube.