Occlusion balloon catheter with external inflation lumen

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/791,008, filed Mar. 2, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference

The invention relates generally to catheters and more specifically to balloon catheters that include external inflation means.

Catheters such as guide catheters can be subject to a number of often conflicting performance requirements such as flexibility, strength, minimized exterior diameter, maximized interior diameter, and the like. In particular, there can be a balance between a need for flexibility and a need for strength or column support. If a catheter is sufficiently flexible to reach and pass through tortuous vasculature, the catheter may lack sufficient column strength to remain in position while, for example, subsequent treatment devices are advanced through the catheter.

Some medical procedures require a method of occluding blood flow distally of a treatment site, while other procedures benefit from occluding blood flow proximally of a treatment site. While a balloon catheter can be used to occlude blood flow, inclusion of a balloon catheter requires either a separate inflation lumen through a guide catheter or a substantial amount of the lumen space within the guide catheter devoted to inflation.

A need remains for a catheter such as a guide catheter that can provide desired strength versus flexibility characteristics. A need remains for a catheter such as a guide catheter that can occlude blood flow without sacrificing the interior lumen space otherwise required by a conventional balloon catheter.

The invention is directed to catheters such as balloon guide catheters configured for providing proximal occlusion, while still providing sufficient interior lumen space for device delivery. The invention is directed to catheters such as guide catheters that also provide a desired level of flexibility, yet can include sufficient column support.

Accordingly, one embodiment of the invention is a catheter with distal and proximal regions, an elongate shaft extending between the distal and proximal regions defining a lumen therebetween, an inflatable, preferably, compliant balloon attached to the distal region of the elongate shaft, and an external inflation component. The inflation component has an inflation lumen in fluid communication with the interior of the balloon. The inflation component is disposed longitudinally along the outer surface of the elongate shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a balloon catheter in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the catheter shaft of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectioned view of a balloon catheter in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are partially sectioned views of the distal region of a catheter according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-section taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

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