Medical balloons having a sheath designed to facilitate release of therapeutic agent
AssigneeBoston Scientific Scimed, Inc.
InventorJan WEBER
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Medical devices that comprise an elongate balloon and a sheath positioned around the balloon. The sheath is designed to facilitate the delivery of therapeutic agent. In one embodiment, the sheath has a non-circular shape (e.g., a square shape or polygonal shape). In some cases, the sheath has reservoirs at the corners with a therapeutic agent contained in the reservoirs. In another embodiment, the sheath has an area that undergoes shear strain when the balloon is expanded. The shear strain in the sheath facilitates the release of therapeutic agent. In another embodiment, the sheath has a chamber for containing a therapeutic agent. When the balloon expands, the chamber becomes compressed and causes the therapeutic agent to flow out of the chamber.
Claims19
A medical device comprising:
- an elongate balloon;
- and
- an expandable sheath positioned around the balloon, the sheath having a non-circular shape on a transverse cross-section;
- wherein the sheath has a reservoir for containing a therapeutic agent.
A method of medical treatment comprising:
- inserting into a patient's body, a medical device comprising:
- (a) an elongate balloon;
- (b) an expandable sheath positioned around the balloon, the sheath having a non-circular shape on a transverse cross-section, wherein the sheath has a reservoir;
- and
- (c) a therapeutic agent contained in the reservoir;
- expanding the balloon.
A medical device comprising:
- an elongate balloon;
- and
- an expandable sheath positioned around the balloon, the sheath having an area that undergoes shear strain when the balloon is expanded.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.