Sheath for a balloon catheter

Abstract

Abstract A sheath (40) for a balloon dilatation catheter has a distal guide spring (50), a proximal tubular shaft, and an expandable portion connected to and between the guide spring (50) and the shaft. The sheath is advanced by pushing a core wire (58) connected inside of the sheath to the distal spring guide. This wire is removable to permit the surgeon to select a variety of wires of different stiffness even while positioning the sheath. When the sheath is positioned at the lesion or stenosis, the wire is removed. A single lumen balloon (68) catheter is then pushed through the sheath using the same or another stiffening wire until the ballon portion of a catheter is within the expandable portion (52) of the sheath.

Inventors

• 👤 Richard A. Gambale
• 👤 Craig T. Kelley
• 👤 James J. Moriarty

Bibliographic Details