Expandable endotracheal or urethral tube

Claim 1

A tube which may be collapsed for insertion of a first end into a body passage and then expanded for transporting a fluid, comprising an elongate conduit, open at each end, providing an intermediate section between the ends having thin inner and outer walls defining an annulus therebetween closed at the first tube end, the conduit being expandable from a collapsed configuration to a distended configuration in response to the introduction of fluid into the annulus; means at least partially rigidifying the conduit in the collapsed configuration thereof comprising a plurality of generally parallel pleats in the inner and outer walls extending from adjacent from adjacent the first conduit end toward the second conduit end providing spaced transversely corrugated inner and outer walls; means for delivering fluid to the annulus; and an expandible cuff on the exterior of the tube for expansion into sealing engagement between the tube exterior and the interior of the body passage.