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AssigneeMedtronic AVE, Inc.
InventorsGerry Clarke, Gerard M. O'Connor, Richard Sherlock, Alan O'Driscoll, Cathal McNamara, Hubert McDonagh
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A process for forming a heat weld between a catheter shaft and a surrounding balloon comprises selecting an elongate catheter shaft formed of thermoplastic polymeric material that is opaque to red and near-infrared light, and selecting a balloon formed of thermoplastic polymeric material that is transparent or translucent to red and near-infrared light. While a neck of the balloon is fitted in close contact around a distal portion of the catheter shaft, a laser beam of red and near-infrared light is applied through the balloon neck to impinge on the underlying opaque distal shaft, which is heated thereby. Heat from the shaft is conducted into the surrounding balloon neck so that adjacent annular portions of both components melt and mix. The molten materials are allowed to cool, forming a secure weld joint between the neck and the shaft. The process yields strong, flexible bonds between balloons and catheter shafts that may be selected from a wide variety of materials.
A process for forming a heat weld between a catheter shaft and a surrounding balloon comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.