# US 5,690,642 A · Rapid exchange stent delivery balloon catheter > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 5,690,642 A - Document ID: US5690642A - Status: Granted - Kind: A - Application number: 08/582,338 - Filed: 1996-01-18 - Granted: 1997-11-25 - Earliest claimed: 1996-01-18 - Assignees: Cook Incorporated - Inventors: Thomas A. Osborne; Scott E. Eells - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5690642A ## CPC - A61F 2/958: Inflatable balloons for placing stents or stent-grafts - A61B 90/39: {Markers, e.g. radio-opaque or breast lesions markers} - A61M 25/104: {used for angioplasty} - A61M 2025/0183: {Rapid exchange or monorail catheters} - A61M 2025/1056: {having guide wire lumens outside the main shaft, i.e. the guide wire lumen is within or on the surface of the balloon} - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} ## Abstract A rapid exchange stent delivery balloon catheter which allows exchange from a balloon angioplasty catheter to a stent delivery catheter without the need to replace the angioplasty catheter wire guide with an exchange-length wire guide before exchanging the stent delivery catheter for the balloon angioplasty catheter. The stent delivery catheter of the present invention includes a relatively short wire guide shaft which is bonded to the catheter shaft only at a location distal to the inflation lumen. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A rapid exchange stent delivery balloon catheter, comprising: a catheter shaft defining an inflation lumen, the inflation lumen having a proximal end and a distal end; an inflatable balloon having a proximal end and a distal end; a wire guide shaft defining a wire guide lumen, the wire guide shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the proximal end of the wire guide shaft is proximal to the proximal end of the inflatable balloon; and a catheter tip having a proximal end and a distal end; wherein the distal end of the inflation lumen opens into and is in fluid communication with an interior of the inflatable balloon, the distal end of the inflatable balloon is sealed by the proximal end of the catheter tip, and the wire guide shaft is coupled only to the catheter tip completely distally of the distal end of the inflatable balloon. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the wire guide shaft is adjacent the distal end of the catheter tip. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 1, wherein the proximal end of the wire guide shaft is formed at an angle to a transverse axis of the wire guide shaft. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 1, further comprising: a stiffening wire having a proximal end and a distal end; wherein the stiffening wire extends through the interior of the inflatable balloon. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 4, wherein the distal end of the stiffening wire is coupled to the catheter tip. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 5, further comprising a spherical ball coupled to the distal end of the stiffening wire. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 4, further comprising: at least one radiopaque marker band coupled to the stiffening wire. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 7, wherein the at least one radiopaque marker band marks a location of at least one end of the inflatable balloon. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 7, wherein the at least one radiopaque marker band is formed from gold. ### Claim 10 (depends on 4) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 4, wherein the stiffening wire is formed from stainless steel. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 1, wherein the inflatable balloon is folded around the wire guide shaft. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 11, further comprising: an expandable stent disposed around the folded inflatable balloon. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The stent delivery balloon catheter of claim 1, wherein the catheter shaft, the inflatable balloon, the wire guide shaft and the catheter tip are formed from radiation cross-linked polyethylene. ### Claim 14 A balloon catheter stent configuration comprising: a catheter shaft defining an inflation lumen having a proximal end and a distal end; an inflatable balloon having a proximal end and a distal end; a wire guide shaft defining a wire guide lumen, said wire guide shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the proximal end of the wire guide shaft is proximal to the proximal end of the inflatable balloon; a catheter tip having a proximal end and a distal end; and a stent mounted on and surrounding said inflatable balloon and wire guide shaft; wherein the distal end of the inflation lumen opens into and is in fluid communication with the inflatable balloon, the distal end of the inflatable balloon is sealed by the proximal end of the catheter tip, and the wire guide shaft is coupled only to the catheter tip completely distally of the distal end of the inflatable balloon.