Helically grooved balloon for dilatation catheter and method of using
First Claim
1. A method of dilating a blood vessel with a dilatation catheter comprising the steps of:
- positioning in the blood vessel a dilatation catheter having a limited compliance dilatation balloon dimensioned to dilate the lumen of the blood vessel when inflated, the balloon having a dilating surface and including at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of the dilating surface, the portion of the balloon that defines the groove being constructed to deflect and cause the groove to diminish in depth with increased inflation pressure to enable the effective dilating diameter of the balloon to increase within a limited range of diameters; and
inflating the limited compliance dilatation balloon to dilate the blood vessel.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dilatation balloon having at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of the dilating surface of the dilatation balloon is mounted on the distal end of a catheter shaft. Multiple helical grooves may be provided in the dilatation balloon extending parallel to each other or opposite to each other in the dilating surface. Each helical groove has a pitch, width and depth. According to one aspect of the invention, the pitch, width and depth of the helical groove, as well as the number of grooves, are selected to allow perfusion of blood past the dilatation catheter when the dilatation balloon is inflated in a blood vessel. According to another aspect of the invention, the pitch, width, and depth of the helical groove, as well as the number of grooves, are selected so that the dilatation balloon conforms to a tortuous blood vessel and does not straighten the blood vessel during dilation. According to another aspect of the invention, the pitch, width, and depth of the helical groove, as well as the number of grooves, are selected to control the diametrical compliance of the dilatation balloon. The pitch, width, and depth of the helical groove may be selected to provide both conformance to the shape of tortuous blood vessels and diametrical compliance. The helical groove also permits the dilatation balloon to deflate without "winging", i.e., forming undesirable flat folds that extend outward from the rest of the catheter.
302 Citations
70 Claims
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1. A method of dilating a blood vessel with a dilatation catheter comprising the steps of:
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positioning in the blood vessel a dilatation catheter having a limited compliance dilatation balloon dimensioned to dilate the lumen of the blood vessel when inflated, the balloon having a dilating surface and including at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of the dilating surface, the portion of the balloon that defines the groove being constructed to deflect and cause the groove to diminish in depth with increased inflation pressure to enable the effective dilating diameter of the balloon to increase within a limited range of diameters; and inflating the limited compliance dilatation balloon to dilate the blood vessel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 20, 63, 69)
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8. A dilatation catheter comprising:
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a catheter shaft having a distal end; a limited compliance dilatation balloon mounted on the distal end of the catheter shaft, the balloon being dimensioned to dilate a lumen of a blood vessel when inflated; the balloon having a dilating surface and including at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of the dilating surface of the balloon wherein the at least one helical groove includes at least one of a pitch, width and depth selected to facilitate deflection and reduction in the depth of the groove with increased inflation pressure to enable the diameter of the balloon to increase, thereby to control the effective dilating diameter of the balloon. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 64)
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21. A limited compliance dilatation catheter balloon having a dilating surface, comprising:
at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of the dilating surface of the balloon wherein the pitch, width and depth of the at least one helical groove is selected to facilitate deflection and reduction in the depth of the groove with increased inflation pressure to enable the diameter to increase thereby to compliantly control the effective dilating diameter of the balloon. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 65)
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33. A method of dilating a blood vessel with a dilatation catheter comprising the steps of:
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positioning a dilatation catheter having a deflated limited compliance dilatation balloon adapted to dilate a lumen of a blood vessel when inflated, the balloon including at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of a dilating surface of the balloon, the groove being constructed to deflect and diminish in depth with increased inflation pressure to enable the diameter of the balloon to increase and enable the balloon to be substantially free of flat folds when deflated; and inflating the limited compliance dilatation balloon to dilate the blood vessel. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 66, 70)
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38. A dilatation catheter comprising:
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a catheter shaft having a distal end; a limited compliance dilatation balloon mounted on the distal end of the catheter shaft, the balloon having a dilating surface and being adapted to dilate the lumen of a blood vessel when inflated; the dilating surface of the balloon including at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of the dilating surface wherein the pitch and depth of the helical groove is selected to facilitate deflection and reduction in the depth of the groove with increased inflation pressure to enable the diameter to increase thereby to control the effective dilating diameter of the balloon the balloon, when deflated, being substantially free of flat folds. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 53, 67)
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50. A limited compliance dilatation catheter balloon adapted to dilate a blood vessel lumen when inflated and having a dilating surface, comprising:
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at least one helical groove disposed in at least a portion of the dilating surface of the balloon, the at least one helical groove having at least one of a pitch, width and depth selected to control the diametrical compliance of the balloon; the at least one groove enabling the balloon to be substantially free of flat folds when the balloon is deflated. - View Dependent Claims (52, 54, 61, 62, 68)
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- 55. The limited compliance dilatation catheter balloon of claim 55 wherein the pitch and depth of the at least one helical groove are such that increasing at least one of them increases the diametrical compliance of the balloon and wherein decreasing at least one of them decreases the diametrical compliance of the balloon.
Specification