A tubular extruded member particularly suitable for use in medical devices
such as intravascular catheters and guide wires, wherein the extruded
tubular member includes multiple layers having biaxial helical
orientation in different directions. A counter-rotation extrusion process
may be used to orient the layers in different biaxial helical directions.
The counter-rotation extrusion process provides orientation in two
different circumferential directions in addition to a longitudinal
direction. By combining the dual direction or biaxial helical orientation
with multiple layers, different layers of the tubular member may be
tailored to have the desired mechanical properties.