BALLOON CATHETER

摘要

A catheter arrangement is described that is arranged to permit a guide wire or other structure to be fed laterally from the region of an expandable working element. The catheter includes an elongate flexible tubular member and an inflatable structure carried by a distal portion of the flexible tubular member. The flexible tubular member has a guide wire lumen and at least one fluid supply lumen that is in fluid communication with the inflatable structure. The inflatable structure includes at least one, and preferably two, inflatable members (which may take the form of balloons). In the case of two inflatable members, the first and second inflatable members are radially spaced about the guide wire lumen such that at least one gap is formed between the inflatable members. With this arrangement, the distal end of a guide wire may be advanced through the guide lumen and out of a side opening such that the guide wire passes laterally between the first and second inflatable members. With such an arrangement, a guide wire passing out of the side opening in the region between the inflatable members can readily be directed into a second branch of a vessel bifurcation while the device is positioned in a first branch.