Expandable balloon sheaths

US10702673B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Medtronic Vascular, Inc. · US

Inventors

• John Wilson Traxler · Healdsburg, US
• Michael J. Baldwin · Santa Rosa, US
• Joseph Duffy · Petaluma, US
• John Kantor · Santa Rosa, US
• Tony Le · Dearborn, US
• Asim Malik · Windsor, US
• Susan Peterson · Santa Rosa, US
• Emily Schoenhoff · Santa Rosa, US
• Eric Hallberg · Detroit Lakes, US
• Steven Holt · Crystal, US
• Erik Svensson · New Hope, US
• Ronan Cleary · Galway, IE
• Sameer Singh · Santa Rosa, US
• Steven Holmgren · Maple Grove, US
• Janet Komatsu · San Francisco, US
• Traci Colgan · Healdsburg, US
• Gregory Hopper · Brooklyn Park, US
• Marcel Fuhrer · Healdsburg, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 19, 2018
• Grant date: Jul 7, 2020
• Expiry date: May 22, 2038

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61M2025/1081
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A tubular sheath for enclosing an expandable balloon attached to the distal portion of a catheter encloses and protects the expandable balloon. The tubular sheath is configured to be slidable and removable from the catheter. The tubular sheath may include a longitudinal splitting element that is removable as a result of a force applied to the longitudinal splitting element. The longitudinal splitting element is configured to split the wall of the tubular sheath in response to the force. Alternatively, the tubular sheath may include a gripping portion that has relatively poor cohesive strength to adjacent portions of the tubular sheath. The tubular sheath is configured to be removable in response to a force applied to the gripping portion.