LOW PROFILE VALVE AND METHOD OF MAKING

摘要

A low profile inflation valve (10) located inside a balloon catheter that enables a user to inflate the balloon and exchange other medical apparatus over the catheter while the balloon remains inflated. The low profile inflation valve of the present invention includes a first tube (20) having a lumen (22) and at least one region of decreased inner diameter (24), and a structure movably located inside the lumen of said first tube, wherein said region of decreased inner diameter of said first tube forms a seal with a portion of said structure. The present invention further includes a method of making a low profile inflation valve (10) using a first and second tube comprising the steps of creating an aperture in at least one side of a second tube, placing the second tube inside a first tube, the first tube being made of thermoplastic material, applying heat to a localized area of the first tube, and compressing the first tube to form a region of reduced internal diameter, the reduced diameter forming a seal with the outside diameter of the second tube.