Medical balloon with incorporated fibers

Abstract

A balloon catheter assembly comprises a balloon having attached to or in its wall one or more filar elements, extending from one end of the balloon to the other. The filar elements are made of a material which is at least as flexible as the material forming the walls of the balloon. In the event of circular burst of the balloon, the filar element(s) prevent disconnection of the material of the balloon into two or more separate pieces. The filar element(s) become attached to or in the material of the balloon wall when the raw material is inflated to the shape of a mold. The filar elements may comprise a natural fiber, a synthetic fiber or a metal wire.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to GB application no. 1205362.5, filed Mar. 27, 2012, titled “Medical Balloon with Incorporated Fibers,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates generally to medical devices and more particularly to a balloon of a balloon catheter. The teachings herein can be used in balloons used for numerous medical applications, including for example angioplasty, scoring or cutting, occlusion, valvuloplasty, to expand implantable medical devices and so on.BACKGROUND ART

[0003] Balloon catheters, which generally comprise a catheter tube with an inflatable balloon at the distal end thereof, are widely used in the medical profession for various endoluminal procedures. One common procedure involving the use of a balloon catheter relates to angioplasty dilation of coronary or other arteries suffering from stenosis (that is, a narrowing of the arterial lumen whi...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0034]It is to be understood that the drawings do not show the various elements of the device to scale and often these are shown in enlarged form, solely for the purposes of clarity of explanation.

[0035]Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown an embodiment of introducer apparatus 10 which is deployed endoluminally in a patient and includes a catheter 12 on which a medical balloon 18 is fitted. The structures of the preferred embodiments of balloon are described in further detail below. The combination of catheter 12 and balloon 18 is typically termed a balloon catheter.

[0036]At a proximal end of the catheter 12 there is provided an external manipulation and valving unit 20. The unit 20 can be of conventional form and is therefore not described in detail herein as its components and structure will be readily apparent to the skilled person. Typically, the unit will include one or more ports 30, 32 for the supply or removal of fluid from the components of the apparatus 10, such as in...

CROSS-REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to GB application no. 1205362.5, filed Mar. 27, 2012, titled “Medical Balloon with Incorporated Fibers,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates generally to medical devices and more particularly to a balloon of a balloon catheter. The teachings herein can be used in balloons used for numerous medical applications, including for example angioplasty, scoring or cutting, occlusion, valvuloplasty, to expand implantable medical devices and so on.BACKGROUND ART

[0003] Balloon catheters, which generally comprise a catheter tube with an inflatable balloon at the distal end thereof, are widely used in the medical profession for various endoluminal procedures. One common procedure involving the use of a balloon catheter relates to angioplasty dilation of coronary or other arteries suffering from stenosis (that is, a narrowing of the arterial lumen whi...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0034]It is to be understood that the drawings do not show the various elements of the device to scale and often these are shown in enlarged form, solely for the purposes of clarity of explanation.

[0035]Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown an embodiment of introducer apparatus 10 which is deployed endoluminally in a patient and includes a catheter 12 on which a medical balloon 18 is fitted. The structures of the preferred embodiments of balloon are described in further detail below. The combination of catheter 12 and balloon 18 is typically termed a balloon catheter.

[0036]At a proximal end of the catheter 12 there is provided an external manipulation and valving unit 20. The unit 20 can be of conventional form and is therefore not described in detail herein as its components and structure will be readily apparent to the skilled person. Typically, the unit will include one or more ports 30, 32 for the supply or removal of fluid from the components of the apparatus 10, such as in...

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