Back to results
US 11,771,449 B2Granted
Shockwave balloon catheter system
AssigneeShockwave Medical, Inc.
InventorsJohn M. Adams, Daniel Hawkins, Clifton A. Alferness
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for breaking obstructions in body lumens includes a catheter including an elongated carrier, a balloon about the carrier in sealed relation thereto, the balloon being arranged to receive a fluid therein that inflates the balloon, and an arc generator including at least one electrode within the balloon that forms a mechanical shock wave within the balloon. The system further includes a power source that provides electrical energy to the arc generator.
Claims12
A method of treating calcified lesions in the wall of a vessel comprising the steps of:
- providing a catheter including a hollow sheath for receiving a guidewire, said catheter including a dilating balloon sealed at the distal end thereof, said dilating balloon being fillable with a liquid, said catheter further including a pair of spaced apart electrodes located within the balloon and outside the hollow sheath;
- advancing the catheter into the vessel until the balloon is in proximity to the calcified lesion;
- inflating the balloon with the liquid to fix the balloon to the wall of the vessel;
- supplying a voltage pulse across the electrode pair, the pulse have a duration on the order of microseconds, the voltage pulse having sufficient energy to create a plasma arc across the spaced apart electrodes resulting in the formation of a shock wave that passes through the balloon to the calcified lesion;
- and
- repeating the supplying step a plurality of times sufficient to crack the calcified lesion with the shock waves such that the dilating balloon expands the vessel.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.