BALLOON CATHETER FOR CREATING A LONGITUDINAL CHANNEL IN A LESION AND METHOD

摘要

A balloon catheter (21) for performing an angioplasty procedure on a lesion in a vessel comprising a flexible elongate catheter shaft (22) having proximal and distal extremities. A balloon (46) is secured to the distal extremity of the catheter shaft and has an outer surface (54) extending between proximal and distal extremities (47,48) of the balloon. A flexible elongate element (61) is provided which extends over the outer surface of the balloon. The flexible elongate element has proximal and distal extremities (62,63) which are secured about the catheter shaft in positions spaced longitudinally away from the outer surface of the balloon to permit expansion of the balloon and to cause movement of the flexible elongate element into engagement with the lesion to form a longitudinal channel in the lesion.