A medical device which defines a lumen for flowing a bodily fluid from an
upstream end of the device to a downstream end thereof is disclosed. The
device has a luminal wall (14) that extends between the upstream and
downstream ends and defines the lumen within which the fluid flows. The
wall exhibits a succession of protuberances spaced from each other along
the length of the device. Each protuberance has a flank facing upstream
(54) and a flank facing downstream (64), the flank facing upstream
extending into the fluid flow so that a radially outermost part of the
flow of fluid from the upstream to the downstream end of the device
impinges on the upstream flank and is thereby caused to reverse its flow,
and flow upstream from the upstream flank to the downstream flank of the
next adjacent protuberance upstream, creating micro-vortices between two
adjacent protuberances.