Importance

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Abstract

A sheath for a balloon dilatation catheter has a distal guide spring, a proximal tubular shaft, and an expandable portion connected to and between the guide spring and the shaft. The sheath is advanced by pushing a core wire connected inside of the sheath to the distal spring guide. This wire is removable to permit the surgeon to select a variety of wires of different stiffness even while positioning the sheath. When the sheath is positioned at the lesion or stenosis, the wire is removed. A single lumen balloon catheter is then pushed through the sheath using the same or another stiffening wire until the balloon portion of a catheter is within the expandable portion of the sheath. Another version of the invention encloses the distal end of the sheath with material and eliminates the distal spring guide. A conventional guide wire may be inserted and used to position the sheath. A third version includes a sheath with a permanently affixed guide wire which allows a standard dual lumen angioplasty catheter to be positioned using an over-the-wire type method. All versions completely isolate the catheter and guide wire from the patient's bodily fluids. This allows reuse of the catheter and the stiffening wire because re-sterilizing the instruments is less troublesome and protects the patient in the event that the balloon or wire ruptures. All three versions allow rapid wire and/or catheter exchanges without the exchanged instruments contacting the patient's blood vessels. All versions of the invention may be modified to have a perfusion device comprising a plurality of tubes across the expandable portion. These tubes are open at both ends and have side holes so that blood may flow beyond the balloon catheter even when it is inflated.

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First Claim