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Cutting balloon catheter having increased flexibility regionsRelated Patent Categories: Surgery, Instruments, Internal Pressure Applicator (e.g., Dilator), Inflatable Or Expandible By FluidCutting balloon catheter having increased flexibility regions description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060184191, Cutting balloon catheter having increased flexibility regions. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention pertains to angioplasty and angioplasty balloon catheters. More particularly, the present invention pertains to angioplasty balloon catheters that include one or more cutting edges coupled to an angioplasty balloon having increased flexibility. BACKGROUND [0002] Heart and vascular disease are major problems in the United States and throughout the world. Conditions such as atherosclerosis result in blood vessels becoming blocked or narrowed. This blockage can result in a lack of oxygenation to the heart, which has significant consequences since the heart muscle must be well oxygenated in order to maintain its blood pumping action. [0003] Occluded, stenotic, or narrowed blood vessels may be treated with a number of relatively non-invasive medical procedures including percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), and atherectomy. Angioplasty techniques typically involve the use of a balloon catheter. The balloon catheter may be advanced through a vasculature over a guidewire so that the balloon is positioned at a target location. The balloon may then be inflated in a manner such that the restriction in the vessel is opened. [0004] One of the major obstacles in treating coronary artery disease and/or treating blocked blood vessels is re-stenosis. Evidence has shown that cutting the stenosis, for example with an angioplasty balloon equipped with a cutting edge, during treatment can reduce incidence of re-stenosis. Additionally, cutting the stenosis may reduce trauma at the treatment site and/or reduce the trauma to adjacent healthy tissue. Cutting blades may also be beneficial additions to angioplasty procedures when the targeted occlusion is hardened or calcified. It is believed typical angioplasty balloons, alone, may not be able to sufficiently expand at least a portion of these hardened lesions. Thus, angioplasty balloons equipped with cutting edges have been developed in an attempt to enhance angioplasty treatments. There is an ongoing need for improved angioplasty devices, including cutting angioplasty balloons, and improved methods of treating intravascular stenoses and occlusions. SUMMARY [0005] The invention generally relates to improved angioplasty devices for treating vascular abnormalities, such as a stenosis. In at least some embodiments, an exemplary angioplasty device may include a catheter shaft having a balloon coupled thereto. One or more cutting members or blades may be coupled to the balloon. The balloon may include one or more discrete points or areas of flexibility to improve the flexibility of the balloon during delivery, deployment, and/or withdrawal of an angioplasty device. Such discrete points or areas of flexibility may include one or more creases, folds, reduced diameter portions, less expandable portions, regions of reduced wall thickness, and the like, formed in a portion of the balloon. [0006] Accordingly, one exemplary embodiment of the invention is a cutting balloon catheter including a balloon having one or more generally circumferentially extending creases formed in the balloon wall. One or more cutting members may be coupled to the balloon such that breaks in the cutting members, or segments thereof, are aligned with the one or more creases to impart greater flexibility to the balloon portion. [0007] Another embodiment of the invention includes an atherotomy device for the treatment of coronary artery disease. The atherotomy device includes a plurality of cutting edges or atherotomes coupled to an inflatable balloon. The atherotomes may be segmented to provide flexibility. The balloon may also include at least one circumferential crease to improve the flexibility of the balloon during an atherotomy procedure. The flexibility provided by the at least one circumferential crease and/or the segmented atherotomes allows the cutting balloon to more readily conform to the curvature of a vascular passageway. Balloons not having such flexibility may tend to straighten as they are inflated in a curved vascular pathway, thereby placing uneven pressure on the wall of the vessel and subjecting unnecessary trauma to the vessel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] 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: [0009] FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a representative cutting balloon catheter in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; [0010] FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a representative cutting member and balloon having at least one generally circumferentially extending crease in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; [0011] FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of another representative cutting member and balloon having at least one generally circumferentially extending crease in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; [0012] FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of a representative cutting balloon catheter including a balloon having at least one crease in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; [0013] FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of another representative cutting balloon catheter including a balloon having at least one crease in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; [0014] FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of another representative cutting balloon catheter including a balloon having at least one crease in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; [0015] FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of a representative cutting balloon catheter disposed in a curved vasculature; [0016] FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of another representative cutting balloon catheter including a multi-lobed balloon; and [0017] FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of another representative cutting balloon catheter including a plurality of expandable balloons. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0018] For the following defined terms, these definitions shall be applied, unless a different definition is given in the claims or elsewhere in this specification. [0019] All numeric values are herein assumed to be modified by the term "about", whether or not explicitly indicated. Unless indicated otherwise, the term "about" generally refers to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would consider equivalent to the recited value (i.e., having the same function or result). In many instances, the term "about" may include numbers that are rounded to the nearest significant figure. Continue reading about Cutting balloon catheter having increased flexibility regions... 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