ADAPTIVE BALLOON WITH IMPROVED FLEXIBILITY

摘要

A balloon for use in surgical procedures, such as angioplasty. The balloon is configured as a ballon catheter with an axial series of segmented chambers, each connected to a tubular core that is adapted to a transport a pressurizable fluid source. The chambers are made of an elastically expandable material that inflates in response to the introduction of a pressurized fluid source. Each chamber includes a body lumen inner wall engaging surface and a pair of generally opposed flanges. Flexibly compliant links are disposed between adjacent chambers. These links may be integral with the flanges, or may constitute a separate hinge that couples the chambers at least to teh central core. As the balloon is routed through a body lumen, curvature in the lumen is mimicked by the balloon, as it is able to flexibly conform to the shape of the lumen path by preferential bending at the flexibly compliant links.