Multifold balloon for stent deployment
First Claim
1. A balloon angioplasty catheter having a distal section and having an inflatable multifold balloon situated at the catheter'"'"'s distal section, the multifold balloon having a thin wall formed from a plastic material, the balloon having at its longitudinal center at least three folds when in a compressed state prior to balloon inflation with each fold consisting of folding of the balloon'"'"'s thin wall first in one direction and then the opposite direction so that each one of the at least three folds consists of three layers of the thin wall of the balloon.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention utilizes a balloon with three or more folds to more evenly distribute the frictional forces on the inside of a stent during stent deployment thus improving the uniformity of stent cell expansion. Ideally one would like to have the same number of balloon folds as the number of stent cells distributed circumferentially around the stent. Matching the number of balloon folds to the number of cells of each cylindrical segment of the stent provides better size uniformity for the stent cells after they are expanded against the wall or other vessel within a human body.
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Citations
15 Claims
- 1. A balloon angioplasty catheter having a distal section and having an inflatable multifold balloon situated at the catheter'"'"'s distal section, the multifold balloon having a thin wall formed from a plastic material, the balloon having at its longitudinal center at least three folds when in a compressed state prior to balloon inflation with each fold consisting of folding of the balloon'"'"'s thin wall first in one direction and then the opposite direction so that each one of the at least three folds consists of three layers of the thin wall of the balloon.
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4. A multifold balloon stent delivery catheter comprising;
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a balloon angioplasty catheter having a distal section and having an inflatable multifold balloon situated at the catheter'"'"'s distal section, the multifold balloon having a thin wall formed from a plastic material, the balloon having at its longitudinal center at least three folds when in a compressed state prior to balloon inflation with each fold consisting of folding of the balloon'"'"'s thin wall first in one direction and then the opposite direction so that each one of the at least three folds consists of three layers of the thin wall of the balloon; and
,a stent placed onto the multifold balloon of the balloon angioplasty catheter, the stent having a multiplicity of cylindrical segments each cylindrical segment consisting of a number of stent cells and the stent further consisting of at least three stent cells circumferentially disposed within each cylindrical segment. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification