Abstract: A steering handle for guiding a medical guidewire and a catheter through a patient's vessels to a treatment site and a method of using the steering handle. The steering handle may be selectively converted to guide the guidewire and catheter either independently or together as a fixed unit. Additionally, a shaping device may be provided on the steering handle which a physician may use to shape a distal segment of the guidewire into a desired shape with ease and accuracy.

Abstract: The present invention provides a coil having at least distal and proximal coil segments, one of the segments being more radiopaque than at least one of the other segments. The guidewire includes an elongate wire which desirably extends along substantially the entire length of the coil and continues proximally of the coil. In a 2-segment coil, the distal end of the distal coil segment is attached to the wire, the proximal end of the distal segment is attached to the distal end of the proximal coil, and the proximal end of the proximal coil segment is attached to the wire. Otherwise, the coil floats freely with respect to the wire between the coil's distal and proximal ends. A method of making such a guidewire is also disclosed.