Ultraminiature catheter cables that are stiff enough for intravenous insertion yet flexible at the tip, sterilizable, and economical are fabricated entirely from commercially available parts. Assembly includes air passageway for reference pressures and coaxial cable for transmission of signals from the tip of catheter

Cota, F. L.

Harrison, D. R.

Sandler, H.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

May 1972	 B72-10200 
NASA TECH BRIEF 
Ames Research Center 
NASA Tech Briefs announce new technology derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
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be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Heart Catheter Cable and Connector 
UHF Connector 
—157 Solder 
Brass	 Terminate 
Guide Wire—,	 Transducer 
Heat Shrinkable Tubing 
Stainless Steel Tubing	 Flexible Guide Wire 
Air Space	 /	 p—Coax Cable 
145 cm	 7.5 cm 
Silver	 Highly Flexible Region 
Solder 
The problem: 
To construct rugged, ultraminiature catheter ca-
bles that are stiff enough for intravenous insertion 
yet flexible at the tip, sterilizable, and economical 
to fabricate. Moreover, the cables must include an 
air passageway for reference pressures and a coaxial 
cable for transmission of signals from the tip of 
the catheter.
The solution: 
A cable connector assembly made entirely from 
commercially •available parts. It closely resembles 
the standard guide wires routinely used in clinical 
heart catheterization techniques. 
How it's done: 
A flexible guide wire of spring steel provides a 
strong, uniform body onto which fluoroplastic shrink-
able tubing can be collapsed. The inside dimension 
of the guide wire has sufficient room to house a 
coaxial cable and to provide an air passageway. The 
fluoroplastic tubing protects the cable and trans-
ducer case from ingress of body fluids and permits 
chemical-type or autoclave sterilization as long as 
the opening at the connector is sealed off. 
continued overleaf) 
This document was prepared under the sponsorship of the National
	 Government assumes any liability resulting from the use of the 
Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither the United States
	 information contained in this document, or warrants that such use 
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States
	 will be free from privately owned rights.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19720000200 2020-03-17T03:32:23+00:00Z
The assembly has the necessary overall stiffness to 
function effectively as a catheter. Flexibility at the 
tip is obtained because the guide wire is terminated 
7.5 cm behind the transducer; the tubing and the 
miniature coaxial cable thus constitute the tip of the 
catheter and the assembly provides the .flexibility 
needed to permit bending the cable tip to an appro-
priate curvature prior to insertion. 
A standard UHF connector was modified to pro-
vide a logical termination for the catheter cable; a 
short length of metal tubing attached to the con-
nector permits applying pressure to the catheter.
Note: 
Requests for additional information may be di-
rected to: 
TeChnology Utilization Officer 
Ames Research Center 
Moffett Field, California 94035 
Reference: TSP 72-10200. 
Patent status: 
No patent action is contemplated by NASA. 
Source: Dean R. Harrison, Frank L. Cota, and
Harold Sandier
Ames Research Center 
(ARC-10406) 
B72-10200	 Category 05


Heart catheter cable and connector

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