KINK-PROOF BALLOON CATHETER

Abstract

The invention relates to a balloon catheter comprising a shaft (2) extending in the longitudinal direction, which has at least a first and a second section (7, 8), with the first section (7) being arranged distal to the second section (8) and being more flexible than the second section (8), with the shaft (2) being provided with a first and a second hose-like tube (10, 11) and a balloon (3) being arranged at the distal end of the first tube (10), said balloon (3) being expandable by pressurization with a fluid led through said first tube (10), and said second tube (11) serving for accommodating a guidewire and terminating distally of said balloon (3) and being provided with an opening at said distal end, wherein both said first and second tubes (10, 11) extend along said first and second sections (7, 8), and both said first and second tubes (10, 11) are more flexible in said first section (7) than in said second section (8), wherein a transition section (9) is arranged between said first and second sections (7, 8), in which the first tube (10) has the same material properties as in the first section (7) and the second tube (11) has the same material properties as in the second section (8) or the first tube (10) has the same material properties as in the second section (8) and the second tube (11) has the same material properties as in the first section (7).

Claims

1. Balloon catheter comprising a shaft extending in the longitudinal direction, which has at least a first and a second section, with the first section being arranged distal to the second section and being more flexible than the second section, with the shaft being provided with a first and a second hose-like tube and a balloon being arranged at the distal end of the first tube, said balloon being expandable by pressurization with a fluid led through said first tube, and said second tube serving for accommodating a guidewire and terminating distally of said balloon and being provided with an opening at said distal end, wherein both said first and second tubes extend along said first and second sections, and both said first and second tubes are more flexible in said first section than in said second section, wherein a transition section is arranged between said first and second sections, in which the first tube has the same material properties as in the first section and the second tube has the same material properties as in the second section or the first tube has the same material properties as in the second section and the second tube has the same material properties as in the first section.

2. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein in the first section the first and the second tube are made of a first material and in the second section the first and the second tube are made of a second material, with the first material being more flexible than the second material and in the transition section the first tube being made of another material than that of the second tube.

3. Balloon catheter according to claim 2, wherein the first material is a thermoplastic elastomer.

4. Balloon catheter according to claim 2 wherein the second material is a polyamide.

5. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein the material thicknesses of the first and second tubes differ in the transition section.

6. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, characterized in that the second tube (11) extends at least partially through the first tube (10).

7. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein a proximal section is arranged proximal to the second section.

8. Balloon catheter according to claim 7, wherein the shaft in the proximal section is at least partially made of metal.

9. Balloon catheter according to claim 8, wherein the shaft in the proximal section is at least partially made of stainless steel.

10. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein the transition section has a length of ≥3 cm.

11. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein the length of the first section ranges between 3 to 20 cm.

12. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein the length of the second section ranges between 5 to 35 cm.

13. Balloon catheter according to claim 1, wherein the balloon is coated with one or more active substances.

14. Balloon catheter according to claim 13, wherein the active agent used is selected from the following group: Tretinoin, orphan receptor agonists, elafin derivatives, corticosteroids, steroid hormones, paclitaxel, rapamycin, tacrolimus, hydrophobic proteins, heparin and/or hormone-like or cell proliferation-modifying substances.

15. Balloon catheter according to claim 10, wherein the transition section has a length ranging between 3 and 10 cm.

16. Balloon catheter according to claim 11, wherein the length of the first section ranges between 5 and 15 cm.

17. Balloon catheter according to claim 12, wherein the length of the second section ranges between 20 and 30 cm.

Description

[0043] Further elucidation of the invention is provided through the enclosed figures by way of examples, where

[0044] FIG. 1 is a side view of the balloon catheter according to the invention;

[0045] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the distal portion of the shaft of the balloon catheter shown in FIG. 1.

[0046] In FIG. 1, the balloon catheter 1 proposed by the invention is shown in side view, where in the representation chosen here right means proximal and left means distal. The balloon catheter 1 comprises a shaft 2 extending in longitudinal direction, the outer diameter of said shaft being larger in the proximal section 6, of which only a short segment is shown here, than further distally. The section of the shaft 2 in which the balloon 3 is located is identified by the letter A. A first lumen for the fluid delivery as well as a second lumen for accommodation of the guidewire extend through the shaft 2 (not shown here), with the two lumens each being formed by a tube.

[0047] Proximally, two catheter hubs in the form of luer-lock connections 4, 5 are arranged at the proximal section 6 of the shaft 2, with connection 4 serving to deliver fluid into the first lumen by means of a balloon dilator and connection 5 serving to introduce the guidewire into the second lumen.

[0048] In FIG. 2, only the distal part of the shaft 2 is shown. A first tube 10 is designed so as to accommodate the second tube 11, that is, the second tube 11 extends longitudinally through the first tube 10. At its distal end, the first tube 10 is connected to the balloon 3, which can be expanded by feeding in fluid through the first tube 10, whereas the second tube 11, on the other hand, has been provided with an opening at the distal end and is used to accommodate the guidewire, which is not shown here.

[0049] The portion of the shaft 2 shown here (excluding the proximal section 6 of FIG. 1) has a first section 7 and a second section 8, with the first section 7 being located distal to the second section 8. However, first and second sections 7, 8 are not directly adjacent to each other; instead, a transition section 9 is arranged between the first section 7 and the second section 8. In the transition section 9, the first tube 10 in the example selected here is made of the same material as in the first section 7, for example made of PEBAX®. On the other hand, the second tube 11 is made of the same material in the transition section 9 as in the second section 8, for example made of nylon. The transition from the stiffer to the more flexible material thus occurs at different points for the first and second tubes 10, 11, in one case at the transition from the second section 8 to the transition section 9, in the other case at the transition from the transition section 9 to the first section 7. The properties of the other tube, however, remain unchanged at the relevant places, resulting in the risk of kinking being significantly reduced. In the present example, the first tube 10 (including balloon area) has a length of 15 cm at the distal end for the softer material and further proximally a length of 25 cm for the less soft material. On the other hand, the second tube 11 has a length of 10 cm at the distal end for the softer material and further proximally a length of 30 cm for the less soft material. Thus, the first section 7 has a length of 10 cm, the transition section 9 of 5 cm and the second section 8 of 25 cm.