Select Microcatheters
Our micro catheters are specially designed for routine access of rat and mouse arteries and veins for blood sampling, drug delivery and physiological monitoring. We provide a variety of different sized microcatheters for easy access of their corresponding size vessels. In the product description, you will find the specified outer diameter, inner diameter, catheter length and connection type.
Microcatheters are selected by materials, connection, size and length. Our catalog numbers are encoded in a pattern that reflects the key characters of a microcatheter, which conforms to a formula of "Material name + Connection type + tubing O.D. + tubing I.D. + tubing Length". Abbreviations are used in catalog number coding, wherein PE stands for polyethylene, PI for polyimide, PU for polyurethane, TF for teflon, VN for vinyl, FL for female luer, SC1 for one-way stopcock, and SC4 for four-way stopcock. For example, "PE-FL-254-127-200" stands for a Polyethylene microcatheter connected to a female Luer lock for receiving a male Luer syringe, tubing O.D. is 0.254 mm, I.D. is 0.127 mm, and tubing length is 200 mm. Please refer to the following chart for details.
Selection of tubing material
Different tubing materials have different physical properties. For a given O.D. and wall thickness, PI has the highest hardness and the best pushability among all tubing materials listed here, whilst SL is the most flexible one. The sequence of hardness from high to low is: PI>TF>PE>VN>PU. For a material with uniform hardness, the tubing pushability and stiffness increase when tubing size become larger. Moderate pushability and flexibility can be achieved with either smaller size of PI and TF tubings or larger size of PU tubings. Very thin wall can be achieved with PI material, therefore, it provides the finest microcather with excellent pushability. PU material reduces the chance of intravascular thrombosis. All materials can be sterilized by ethylene oxide.
Selection of connection type
Microcatheters can be provided with female luer connection or stopcock connection depending on your experimental needs.
Selection of tubing size and length
To select a microcatheter, you will need to know the size of vessel that you are going to catheterize and the length that you need to insert the catheter tubing inside the vessel. For a smooth operation, the outer diameter of a microcatheter should be smaller than the vessel inner diameter. You may use the following chart as a guidance in determing the tubing O.D. of your microcatheter according to the animal body weight. Tubing length can be customized.
| Maximum microcatheter O.D. (mm) for artery cannulation | ||||
| Body Weight (g) | Femoral | Tail (upper 2/3) | Carotid (lower 2/3) | Brachial |
| <15 | 0.136 | 0.136 | 0.327 | 0.127 |
| 15-20 | 0.159 | 0.159 | 0.382 | 0.127 |
| 20-25 | 0.205 | 0.205 | 0.491 | 0.164 |
| 25-30 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.600 | 0.200 |
| 30-35 | 0.275 | 0.295 | 0.660 | 0.220 |
| 150-200 | 0.328 | 0.328 | 0.590 | 0.262 |
| 200-250 | 0.369 | 0.369 | 0.664 | 0.295 |
| 250-280 | 0.434 | 0.434 | 0.782 | 0.348 |
| 280-330 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.900 | 0.400 |
| 330-400 | 0.598 | 0.598 | 1.077 | 0.479 |
| >400 | 0.656 | 0.656 | 1.180 | 0.525 |
References:
Namestnikova, D & Gubskiy, Il'ya & Gabashvili, A & Sukhinich, Kirill & Melnikov, Pavel & Vishnevskiy, D & Soloveva, A & Vitushev, E & Chekhonin, V & Gubsky, Leonid & Yarygin, Konstantin. (2017). MRI evaluation of frequent complications after intra-arterial transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells in rats. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 886. 012012. 10.1088/1742-6596/886/1/012012.
Namestnikova D, Gubskiy I, Kholodenko I, Melnikov P, Sukhinich K, et al. (2017) Methodological aspects of MRI of transplanted superparamagnetic iron oxide-labeled mesenchymal stem cells in live rat brain. PLOS ONE 12(10): e0186717. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186717