Method of making thickened inner lumen for uniform stent expansion

摘要

An intravascular catheter system for implanting a radially expandable stent within a body vessel including a catheter comprising an inner lumen tube, an inflation lumen tube, an inflatable balloon and at least one free standing built-up layer affixed to the outer diameter of the inner lumen tube, the built-up layer being internal to the balloon. A stent is mounted coaxially upon the balloon, the built-up layer extends coaxially within the stent but does not extend beyond the proximal and distal ends of the stent. The built-up layer is sufficiently thick as to cause the balloon to expand evenly and the stent to deploy uniformly. The method of manufacturing the built-up layer includes forming the layer from shrink wrap tubing or alternatively forming the layer from molded ultraviolet light curing adhesive.