| 摘要 |
A flexible balloon catheter/guide wire apparatus (120) includes a thin, elongate, hollow tubular body, the exterior surface of which includes a plurality of cuts (138) spaced apart along at least a portion of the length of the body, and some of which extend through to the interior of the tubular body. The cuts extend transversely of the body, and are positioned to give the apparatus flexibility without significantly reducing torsional stiffness. A balloon section (146) is disposed about the tubular body at least near a distal end (140), and about at least some of the cuts which extend through the tubular body to the interior, so that fluid introduced into the hollow at a proximal end (128) of the tubular body will cause the balloon section to inflate outwardly. This structure allows the apparatus to serve both as a guide wire and catheter for threading into a vasculature passageway, and carrying fluid to inflate the balloon section at the target location.
|
