Medical device

Inventors

Heraty, Kevin • Mullins, Liam • Gilson, Paul • BURKE, MARTIN • Blowick, Ray

Assignees

Veryan Medical Ltd

Abstract

A medical device includes an expandable element for location in a blood vessel. The expandable element is movable between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration. In the expanded configuration, at least a part of a longitudinal axis of the expandable element is curved in three-dimensional space. The medical device can be stent deployment device which includes an elongate catheter shaft and an inflatable balloon.

Core Innovation

The invention provides a medical device for location in a blood vessel that includes an inflatable balloon having an outer surface and being inflatable between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration. The balloon outer surface is provided with a varying cross section that assists with rotational alignment of the balloon within the blood vessel or of a stent located within the blood vessel, and the varying cross section comprises an indentation in an otherwise substantially circular cross section.

The balloon structure further defines the varying cross section at longitudinal end parts, and in some embodiments the portion of varying cross section comprises first order rotational symmetry and includes a helical angle that changes along the length of a longitudinal end part. In some implementations, the balloon outer surface portions at each end are provided with a portion of varying cross section having first order rotational symmetry, where the portion comprises an indentation in an otherwise circular cross section.

For alignment and orientation determination, the invention supports visualizing the portion of varying cross section to determine rotational orientation and rotating the balloon to rotationally align the balloon within the blood vessel or within a stent using the visualized portion as a guide. In expanded configuration, the indentation is configured such that a projection view of the cross section varies as the balloon is rotated, enabling the rotational orientation to be determined for correctly rotationally aligning the balloon within the blood vessel or a stent located within the blood vessel.

Claims Coverage

The partial content identifies four independent claims. Across these, the claims share a core set of inventive features centered on an inflatable balloon with a varying cross section including an indentation in an otherwise circular outer surface, and use of the varying cross section for rotational alignment determined by visualization or projection view changes.

The claim set centers on a balloon with indentation-based varying cross section, including embodiments with first order rotational symmetry and end-region geometry, and uses that varying cross section by visualization or a projection view that changes during rotation to determine rotational orientation and enable correct rotational alignment within a blood vessel or relative to a stent.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found