Interlocking peel-away dilation catheter

Abstract

A dilatation balloon catheter which is capable of being removed from a patient while leaving a guide wire in place has a longitudinal slit extending from its proximal end to a position near its inflatable balloon. The catheter has an inflation lumen for applying fluid to inflate the balloon, and an insertion lumen through which the guide wire passes. The slit communicates with the insertion lumen so that the catheter can be peeled off of the guide wire as the catheter is withdrawn from the patient and the guide wire remains in place in the patient.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention.The present invention relates to the field of angioplasty. In particular, the present invention relates to dilatation balloon catheters which are insertable into a patient over a guide wire.2. Description of the Prior Art.Angioplasty has gained wide acceptance in recent years as an efficient and effective method for treating certain types of vascular diseases. In particular, angioplasty is widely used for opening of stenosis in the coronary arteries, although it is also used for treatment of stenoses in other parts of the vascular system.The most widely used form of angioplasty makes use of a balloon catheter which has an inflatable balloon at its distal end. Using fluoroscopy, the physician guides the catheter through the vascular system until the balloon is positioned across the stenosis. The balloon is then inflated by supplying fluid under pressure through an inflation lumen to the balloon. The inflation of the balloon causes ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a balloon catheter which can be removed from a patient over a standard length guide wire (typically about 150 cm) without removing the guide wire from the patient. The catheter of the present invention includes means for opening a longitudinal slit which communicates with the insertion lumen through which the guide wire passes. The slit extends from near the proximal end of the catheter to a position near the inflatable balloon, so that the length of the catheter which does not contain a slit is shorter than the length of guide wire normally located outside of the patient and extending beyond the proximal end of the catheter.

Problems solved by technology

In the past, however, the removal of the balloon catheter without removing the guide wire has been complicated because the balloon catheter is inserted over the guide wire.

There are, however, several problems with this approach.

The use of an exchange wire essentially doubles the normal length of the guide wire, which makes the exchange wire difficult to handle and manipulate.

The extra steps of exchanging the guide wire for an exchange wire and the increased difficulty of handling a wire of much greater length have been required in the past in order to exchange balloon catheters.

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