Balloon catheter and method of manufacturing the same

Claim 1

A balloon catheter that includes an elongated cylindrical catheter body formed of polyethylene and having a distal end and a proximal end, said body further including a first reduced section having a smaller diameter than said body and a second further reduced section positioned adjacent to the first reduced section toward the distal end of said body, said second reduced section having a smaller diameter than the first reduced section, a thin walled balloon formed of thermosetting polyurethane having a central inflatable bag and two opposing end cuffs, one of said end cuffs being mounted over the second reduced section with the outer end face of said one end cuff facing a shoulder separating the first and second reduced sections, said other end cuff being mounted over the first reduced section with the outer end face of said other end cuff facing a second shoulder separating the first reduced section and said body so that the inflatable bag is everted over the said one end cuff to enclose the first reduced section, a first adhesive bonding means for joining the end cuffs to the reduced sections and a second thermal bonding means formed by shrinkage of said cuffs and expansion of said catheter body section whereby the cuffs are double bonded to the catheter body; an inflation port formed in the wall of said first reduced section, and an air lumen mounted inside said body that is connected to the inflation port whereby the inflatable bag can be inflated and deflated.

Claim 7

A method of manufacturing a balloon catheter that includes the steps of forming a first reduced diameter section and a second smaller diameter second reduced section in a cylindrical polyethylene catheter body so that the sections are positioned adjacent each other, connecting an internal lumen to an inflation port that passes through the wall of the first reduced section, forming a thin walled tube of thermosetting polyurethane into a balloon having an inflatable bag centered between a pair of opposed end cuffs, applying an adhesive to a portion of said second reduced section, positioning one of said cuffs over the second reduced section so that the end face of the cuff is facing a shoulder formed between the two reduced sections, permitting the adhesive to dry, turning the balloon back over the bonded cuff, and applying an adhesive to a portion of said first reduced section, positioning the opposing cuff over the first reduced section with the end face of the second cuff facing a second shoulder formed between the body and the first reduced section so that the inflatable bag encircles the inflation port in the first reduced section and is retractable to a position below the outside surface of said body section when the bag is in a deflated condition heating the cuffs and the catheter body sections covered by said cuffs to a temperature at which the polyurethane shrinks and the polyethylene expands to form a thermal bond therebetween whereby said balloon is double bonded to said catheter body.

Claim 8

A method of manufacturing a balloon catheter that includes the steps of forming a first reduced diameter section and a second smaller diameter second reduced section in a cylindrical polyethylene catheter body so that the sections are positioned adjacent each other, connecting an internal lumen to an inflation port that passes through the wall of the first reduced section, forming a thin walled tube of thermosetting polyurethane into a balloon having an inflatable bag centered between a pair of opposed end cuffs, applying an adhesive to a portion of said second reduced section, positioning one of said cuffs over the second reduced section so that the end face of the cuff is facing a shoulder formed between the two reduced sections, permitting the adhesive to dry, turning the balloon back over the bonded cuff, and applying an adhesive to a portion of said first reduced section, positioning the opposing cuff over the first reduced section with the end face of the second cuff facing a second shoulder formed between the body and the first reduced section so that the inflatable bag encircles the inflation port in the first reduced section and is retractable to a position below the outside surface of said body section when the bag is in a deflated condition heating the cuffs and the catheter body sections covered by said cuffs to a temperature at which the polyurethane shrinks and the polyethylene expands to form a thermal bond therebetween whereby said balloon is double bonded to said catheter body.