Balloon catheter assembly

Claim 1

A catheter assembly, comprising: a double lumen catheter including an elongated outer flexible tube and an elongated inner flexible tube movably disposed in the outer flexible tube, each of the outer and inner flexible tubes having an open distal end, the inner and outer tubes being longitudinally displaceable relative to each other; a balloon element fixedly attached at its respective ends to the open distal ends of the outer and inner tubes; stopper means provided at the distal end of the inner flexible tube; an elongated pusher means movably disposed in the inner flexible tube and having a distal end operatively associated with the stopper means, the pusher means being adapted to be moved relative to the outer flexible tube for causing the balloon element to be stretched in the longitudinal direction to have a reduced cross section, whereby the balloon catheter is easily inserted into and moved within blood vessels; and cord means disposed between the outer and inner catheter tubes and extending over a distance substantially equal to the length of the outer tube, the cord means being made of an inelastic material to resist stretching to an extent substantially greater than the catheter tubes, the cord means being fixedly attached at its respective ends to the distal and proximal ends of the outer catheter tube to prevent the outer flexible tube from being stretched during the stretching of the balloon element.