Apparatus and methods for treating hardened vascular lesions
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An angioplasty catheter comprising:
- a catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end;
a radially expandable shell near the distal end of the catheter body;
an external structure carried over but unattached to the shell; and
an attachment structure having a proximal end and a distal end attached to the external structure, wherein the attachment structure is sufficiently sized and compliant to accommodate geometrical changes and reaction forces produced by the external structure as it is expanded by the shell.
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Abstract
An angioplasty catheter comprises a catheter body having a balloon or other radially expandable shell at its distal end. A non-axial external structure is carried over the shell and scores a stenosed region in a blood vessel when the balloon is inflated therein. The catheter has an attachment structure disposed between the catheter body and the balloon to accommodate foreshortening and rotation of the external structure as the balloon is expanded. The external structure may be part of a helical cage structure which floats over the balloon.
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Citations
72 Claims
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1. An angioplasty catheter comprising:
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a catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end;
a radially expandable shell near the distal end of the catheter body;
an external structure carried over but unattached to the shell; and
an attachment structure having a proximal end and a distal end attached to the external structure, wherein the attachment structure is sufficiently sized and compliant to accommodate geometrical changes and reaction forces produced by the external structure as it is expanded by the shell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method of dilatating a stenosed region in a blood vessel, the method comprising:
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introducing an external structure carried over an expandable shell that is connected to a catheter body by an attachment structure;
expanding the expandable shell to dilate external structure within a stenosed region within the blood vessel, wherein the attachment structure axially extends to accommodate foreshortening of the external structure as the shell is expanded. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method for fabricating an angioplasty catheter, the catheter having a catheter body and a radially expandable shell near a distal end of the catheter body, the method comprising:
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loading an expandable scoring structure over an insertion tube, the insertion tube having an inner diameter that is larger than the outer diameter of the expandable shell, and an outer diameter that is larger than an unexpanded inner diameter of the scoring structure;
inserting the catheter body and expandable shell into the inner diameter of the insertion tube so that the insertion tube is placed over the expandable shell; and
removing the insertion tube while maintaining the position of the scoring structure relative to the expandable shell so that the scoring structure collapses on the expandable shell. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66)
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67. A scoring catheter comprising:
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a catheter body comprising a distal end and a proximal end;
a radially expandable shell near the distal end of the catheter body;
a scoring structure carried over the shell, the scoring structure comprising expandable attachment element for securing the scoring structure to the catheter body, wherein the expandable attachment element allows the scoring structure to be expanded to a larger diameter so that the scoring structure can be placed over the expandable shell. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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Specification