Multilumen Catheters and Method of Manufacturing

Abstract

A multilumen catheter assembly and method of making the catheter assembly is provided that involves providing a plurality of tubes, each tube having a first end, a second end, at least one lumen, and at least one surface, selectively heating at least a portion of the surface of at least a first tube of the plurality of tubes, and contacting the selectively heated portion of the tube with a portion of the surface of a second tube to form a multilumen catheter shaft that is joined together along at least a portion of the length of the catheter shaft.

1 . A multilumen catheter assembly, comprising:
 a catheter shaft having a plurality of tubes, wherein each tube of the plurality of tubes has a proximal end, a distal end, at least one lumen extending longitudinally along a longitudinal axis between the proximal end and the distal end through at least a portion of each tube, and at least an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein at least a portion of the inner surface of the first tube is selectively fused with at least a portion of the inner surface of the second tube along at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the catheter shaft.   
     
     
         2 . The catheter assembly of  claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the surface of the first tube that is selectively fused with at least a portion of the surface of the second tube comprises a heat-fusion bond. 
     
     
         3 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein each lumen comprises a substantially D-shaped cross-section. 
     
     
         4 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the first tube has at least a first characteristic and the second tube has at least a second characteristic, and wherein the first characteristic and the second characteristic are different. 
     
     
         5 . The catheter assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the characteristic is selected from the group comprising: tube color, tube shape, lumen configuration, tube material, and tube length. 
     
     
         6 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least a portion of the tubes are capable of independent movement relative to each other. 
     
     
         7 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1  wherein the catheter shaft is a unitary catheter shaft. 
     
     
         8 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the tubes are joined together along substantially the entire length of the catheter shaft. 
     
     
         9 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein at least one surface of the tubes of the catheter shaft further comprises at least one additive, and wherein the additive is embedded onto at least a portion of the surface of the at least one tube. 
     
     
         10 . The catheter assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the additive is selected from the group comprising: at least one wire, at least one electrode, and radiopaque material. 
     
     
         11 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the first tube forms a first substantially spiral shape, and at least a portion of the second tube forms a substantially spiral shape, wherein the first tube and the second tube extend along the longitudinal axis, said tubes being axially overlapped in nested relation to each other. 
     
     
         12 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the catheter shaft comprises at least a first lumen, a second lumen, and a third lumen, wherein the third lumen is positioned between the first lumen and the second lumen. 
     
     
         13 . The catheter assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the catheter is a catheter selected from group comprising: a dialysis catheter, peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), an angiographic catheter, and an angioplasty catheter.