A balloon catheter for use in angioplasty that includes a main shaft which is a flexible thin walled metal tube and a hollow, flexible torque transmitting shaft mounted at the distal end of the main shaft. A core member is connected to the torque transmitting shaft, and an inflatable balloon is mounted over the core and is attached to the distal end of the flexible torque transmitting shaft.

A manifold for a double lumen angioplasty balloon catheter has a first chamber connecting the balloon lumen to a first port, a second chamber connecting the guide wire lumen to a second port and a guide wire entry port, an adjustable guide wire seal and a mounting system for an alternative elastic diaphragm guide wire feeding device. An override system for the adjustable guide wire seal is also disclosed.

A dilating guide wire for use in percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTCA) has a very small outside diameter which permits it to be used with a PTCA catheter for treatment of tight stenoses in the coronary arteries that cannot be treated by conventional PTCA catheters alone. The dilating guide wire is small enough to pass through the through lumen of the PTCA catheter and extend beyond the distal tip thereof for predilating the stenosis to permit subsequent crossing and dilation by the PTCA c...

A method of testing a dilatation balloon catheter prior to use which comprises purging and priming the balloon catheter with a balloon protector in place about the balloon.

A method for forming a balloon for use in a balloon catheter by depositing a film over the exterior surface of a substrate. The film includes a plurality of layers in which one of the layers is a polyimide and another is made of a metallic material which heats in response to the application of electromagnetic energy. The substrate is removed to leave a balloon in the desired shape.

A passive perfusion balloon catheter for performing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty allows prolonged dilatations without blocking blood flow through the artery being treated. The passive perfusion balloon catheter includes a dual lumen shaft, a balloon head connected to the distal end of the dual lumen shaft, a balloon mounted around the balloon head, and a distal tip which is connected to and extends distally from balloon. The balloon head defines a blood flow channel through whi...

An improved vascular catheter for angioplasty providing a variable stiffness lengthwise of the catheter. A relatively stiff shaft portion is provided for transmitting the necessary axial forces for advancing the catheter along a guide wire through a series of sharp bend to the arterial branch for dilatation, and a more flexible waist portion connects from the shaft to the balloon and tip portion. This allows the tip and balloon portions to follow sharply bending turns in the guide wire without t...

A balloon catheter for use in angioplasty includes an elongated flexible thin walled metal tube which carries an inflatable balloon at its distal end. A core member of smaller outer diameter than the metal tube is attached to the distal end of the tube to provide support for and guiding of the balloon section.

A method for forming an inflatable catheter balloon from an initial length of tubing includes longitudinally stretching a first end segment of the tubing element and longitudinally stretching a second end segment of the tubing element. The longitudinally stretched tubing is then heated, blow-molded to radially stretch it and define a desired inflatable portion for the balloon, and cooled.

An apparatus for protection of a distal balloon on a dilatation catheter includes an inner compressible sleeve which fits longitudinally over the balloon, an outer compressible sleeve which fits over the inner sleeve, and a housing arrangement for deforming the sleeves radially inwardly about the balloon. The housing arrangement includes first and second threadably mated members which have longitudinally aligned throughbores for receiving the catheter and sleeves, but which act, when threaded to...