A catheter is advanced to a treatment site proximate a lesion, the catheter including a plurality of traction elements and an inflatable balloon adapted to urge the plurality of traction elements radially outwardly when the inflatable balloon is inflated. The inflatable balloon is inflated to urge the plurality of traction elements radially outwardly into contact with the lesion with the distal region at a first rotational orientation. The inflatable balloon is deflated and the proximal region of the catheter is rotated in order to rotate the distal region to a second rotational orientation different from the first rotational orientation. The inflatable balloon is inflated to again urge the plurality of traction elements radially outwardly into contact with the lesion. The catheter is adapted to provide a substantially one-to-one rotational arrangement between the proximal region and the distal region.

A medical device may include an elongated body, a balloon positioned at a distal portion of the elongated body, and one or more pressure-wave emitters positioned along a central longitudinal axis of the elongated body within the balloon. The one or more pressure-wave emitters may be configured to propagate pressure waves radially outward through the fluid to fragment a calcified lesion at the target treatment site. The at least one of the one or more pressure-wave emitters may comprise an electronic emitter including a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode may be arranged to define a spark gap between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the second electrode may comprise a portion of a hypotube.

A balloon catheter which allows for faster preparation and effective purging of air. The catheter includes an elongated, flexible catheter having a tubular outer member and a tubular inner member each having a respective lumen. The inner member is at least partially disposed in the outer member lumen such that an outer surface of the inner member and an inner surface of the outer member together define an annular inflation lumen. The outer member has micropores or micro-holes configured such that when a contrast agent is injected into the inflation lumen, the micropores or micro-holes allow air to pass therethrough and thereafter become clogged by the contrast agent. The catheter also has a balloon member having its ends secured to and circumferentially around the outer member such that an inner surface of the balloon member and the outer surface of the outer member define an inflatable balloon interior.

A cage can be positioned around a medical balloon, such as an angioplasty balloon, to assist in a medical procedure. The cage can include a plurality of strips, each extending between a set of rings including first and second rings. As the balloon expands, the first and second rings move closer together and allow the strips to expand outward. The cage may have wedge dissectors on the strips.

An occlusion catheter system includes a proximal hub having an inflation connection port and an inflation pathway. An inflation catheter member is connected to the proximal hub and has an inflation lumen. A stiffener member defines a longitudinal axis. The proximal end of the stiffener member is connected to the proximal hub. The stiffener member extends through a portion of the inflation lumen. An occlusion balloon has a proximal balloon end and a distal balloon end. A distal catheter member is positioned substantially on the longitudinal axis and is connected to the distal end of the stiffener member. An atraumatic tip is positioned on a distal end of the distal catheter member. The atraumatic tip has a substantially circular profile in a relaxed configuration. A pressure sensor is connected to the occlusion catheter system distally relative to the occlusion balloon and is connected to a processor by electrical wiring.

A thin walled balloon formed in polymer tubing has a patterned metal layer on its outer surface, created by physical vapor deposition (PVD). The pattern is defined by a stencil mask assembled around the balloon, with the balloon inflated therein. The PVD occurs without deforming or degrading the polymer material of the balloon, by actively pulling heat away from the balloon a) by forming the stencil mask out of metal; b) by providing a metal heat conduction path away from the balloon to a heat sink, such as outside the vacuum chamber, and/or c) by flow of a cooling fluid within the balloon during the PVD process. Proper PVD process parameters are selected to minimize heat generation, such as having argon pressure in the range of 0.8 to 1.2 milli-torr and generating the plasma at a power of less than about 200 watts/square inch of effective target surface area.

Inflatable devices are disclosed including a surface which has a network of polymer chains and is configured to be inflatable into a therapeutically or diagnostically useful shape, and at least one ultrashort laser pulse-formed modification in the surface. The network can, for example, include a network morphology that is substantially unchanged by modification with the ultrashort pulse laser. Ultrashort laser pulses can be laser pulses equal to or less than 1000 picoseconds in duration. Advantageously, the etching process uses a relatively low-heat laser to avoid significant heating of surrounding polymers while modifying the surface (and other structures) of the device. The process is configured so that the polymer chain morphology adjacent the modification is substantially unaffected by the low-heat laser. The resulting inflatable device has customized surface features while still retaining substantially homogenous polymer network morphology. This preserves the elasticity, especially the surface elasticity, of the inflatable device.

A cage can be positioned around a medical balloon, such as an angioplasty balloon, to assist in a medical procedure. The cage can include a plurality of strips, each extending between a set of rings including first and second rings. As the balloon expands, the first and second rings move closer together and allow the strips to expand outward. The cage may have wedge dissectors on the strips.

A non-occluding drug-coated balloon catheter device for use in a blood vessel transporting blood comprises a catheter shaft including a guidewire lumen, a fluid lumen and a connector port. A balloon is mounted on the catheter shaft and includes an outer envelope surrounding the guidewire lumen in fluid communication with the fluid lumen; a drug coating applied on the exterior surface of the outer envelope; and at least one bypass lumen forming a passage extending from the proximal end of the outer envelope to the distal end of the outer envelope. When the balloon is positioned in a blood vessel and inflated, the exterior surface of the outer envelope presses the drug coating against the blood vessel and the bypass lumen is open between the distal end of the outer envelope and the proximal end of the outer envelope such that blood transport continues through the bypass lumen.

Systems and methods can involve wedge dissectors attached to strips in turn attached to medical balloons, for forming serrations within vascular wall tissue for angioplasty as well as drug delivery.