Methods using a dual balloon telescoping guiding catheter

Abstract

A guiding catheter comprises an outer guide having a guide lumen and an annular balloon mounted to a distal end of the outer guide, and an inner guide movably disposed within the guide lumen of the outer guide, the inner guide comprising a fluted balloon mounted to a distal end of the inner guide. A method involves selectably pressurizing and depressurizing the annular balloon to control occlusion of fluid flow relative to the annular balloon, and selectably pressurizing and depressurizing the fluted balloon independently of pressurizing and depressurizing the annular balloon to permit perfusion of fluid flow relative to the fluted balloon and control anchoring of the fluted balloon within a generally tubular structure.

Description

RELATED PATENT DOCUMENTS [0001] This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 132,093, filed on Apr. 25, 2002, to which Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120, and which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates generally to catheters and use of same, and more particularly to methods using guiding catheters having balloons affixed to the distal ends of telescoping inner and outer guides. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Catheters are used in a variety of medical procedures. In some applications, these devices provide physicians the ability to explore, operate, and insert drugs / medical devices in various reaches of the anatomy without invasive surgery. Oftentimes, the catheters have medical devices mounted on the catheter shaft. For example, an electrophysiological (EP) ablation catheter has an ablation electrode mounted at a distal tip of the catheter. In another application, guiding catheters are used to create a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016] According to a further aspect, after engaging the destination vessel with the inner guide, the outer guide is distally advanced over the inner guide to engage the destination vessel with the outer guide. The annular balloon is inflated to occ

Problems solved by technology

This endeavor, however, is complicated by the fact that the location of the coronary sinus ostium may vary appreciably from one patient to another, especially among patients with diseased hearts.

Replacing a catheter in this manner is time consuming, expensive, and can cause unnecessary trauma to the patient.

Even when the catheter has an ideal shape for a given application, the size and flexibility of the catheter that provides maneuverability through a convoluted access path becomes a disadvantage when trying to manipulate the distal end of the cathete

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