VASCULAR SYSTEM TREATING METHOD AND APPARATUS

摘要

This invention is an apparatus and method for delivering a treating element (22), such as a radiation source, through a catheter (60) to a desired site in a vascular system of a patient, such as a coronary artery, for inhibiting the formation of scar tissue such as may occur in restenosis following balloon angioplasty. The apparatus includes an elongate flexible catheter tube (20) having proximal and distal portions, with a lumen (202) extending therebetween, and a diameter sufficiently small for insertion into the patient's vascular system. One or more treating elements (22), such as a capsule or pellet containing radioactive material, is positionable within the lumen and movable between the proximal and distal end portions under the force of a liquid flowing through the lumen. The particular aspect to which this application is directed is a transfer device (20) which has a lumen through which the treating element may be advanced into the catheter by means of pressurized fluid, the transfer device including a cartridge (48) for housing the treating element removably received in the transfer device and having a bore therethrough alignable with the lumen and sized to receive the treating element.