Tailoring expansion properties of balloons for medical devices
First Claim
1. A process for tailoring expansion properties of a balloon for a medical device, the process comprising the steps of:
- longitudinally stretching a length of biaxially orientable tubing having an initial diameter and made of material capable of being tailored by the steps hereof to provide drawn tubing;
radially expanding the thus drawn tubing to form a balloon member, said balloon member having a non-distended working diameter and having a hoop expansion ratio, which hoop expansion ratio is an approximate ratio of said non-distended working diameter to said initial diameter of the tubing; and
said radially expanding step including selecting said hoop expansion ratio such that the balloon member exhibits a tailored maximum inflated diameter to which the balloon stretches without bursting during dilatation, said hoop expansion ratio being selected in accordance with the fact that said maximum inflated diameter increases as said hoop expansion ratio decreases.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Dilatation balloons are fabricated of a biaxially orientable material such as a nylon or a polyamide material, and they have an inflated, non-distended working profile as well as a stretched inflated profile which is achieved by applying pressure through a dilatation catheter or the like that is in excess of that needed to achieve the inflated, non-distended profile and which is adequate to effect dilatation or the like up to a maximum pre-bursting pressure application. The maximum pre-bursting size of the balloon can be tailored depending upon the needs of the particular balloon within a wide range of possible maximum pre-bursting sizes.
-
Citations
7 Claims
-
1. A process for tailoring expansion properties of a balloon for a medical device, the process comprising the steps of:
-
longitudinally stretching a length of biaxially orientable tubing having an initial diameter and made of material capable of being tailored by the steps hereof to provide drawn tubing; radially expanding the thus drawn tubing to form a balloon member, said balloon member having a non-distended working diameter and having a hoop expansion ratio, which hoop expansion ratio is an approximate ratio of said non-distended working diameter to said initial diameter of the tubing; and said radially expanding step including selecting said hoop expansion ratio such that the balloon member exhibits a tailored maximum inflated diameter to which the balloon stretches without bursting during dilatation, said hoop expansion ratio being selected in accordance with the fact that said maximum inflated diameter increases as said hoop expansion ratio decreases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
Specification