DOUBLE-WIRE NON-TRAPPING ANGIOPLASTY CATHETER

摘要

The invention provides a catheter, which can be introduced into the coronary arteries over two or more wires. The catheter can be used for coronary, as well as for peripheral angioplasty, in particular near bifurcations. The catheter is of the rapid-exchange or over-the-wire type. The catheter allows procedures, in which two or more wires are introduced into the different branches of a bifurcation prior to positioning a stent proximal to the bifurcation. The wires are fully functional through the interior passage of the stent after its positioning. The procedure allows angioplasty of the distal vessels of the bifurcation without training or repositioning of the wires. The catheter thus avoids the problem of wire trapping between the stent and the artery wall. According to a method of the invention, a first stents is first positioned in the principal vessel and further conventional stents are positioned in the branches of the bifurcation with their proximal ends parts residing inside the first stent in the principal vessel.