Method of making a catheter ballon using a tapered mandrel

Abstract

A method of making a catheter balloon, and a balloon catheter formed thereby, in which a layer of a catheter balloon is formed by decreasing the inner diameter of a first end section of a polymeric tube, so that the tube has a reduced diameter first end section with an inner diameter less than the inner diameter of a central section of the tube. The reduced diameter first end section of the tube is bonded to a catheter shaft to form at least a portion of a skirt section of the balloon, and the skirt section has an improved high rupture pressure.

1 - 17 . (canceled)  
     
     
         18 . A balloon catheter, comprising: 
 a) an elongated shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one lumen; and    b) a balloon having a proximal skirt section and a distal skirt section bonded to the shaft, an inflatable section therebetween having an interior in fluid communication with the at least one lumen of the shaft, a porous polymer first layer, and an elastomeric second layer bonded to the first layer, the porous polymer first layer extending from the proximal skirt section to the distal skirt section and having a distal end section bonded directly to the shaft to define at least a portion of the distal skirt section, the balloon distal skirt section having a rupture pressure of not less than about 14 atm.    
     
     
         19 . The balloon catheter of claim  17  wherein the distal end section of the first layer bonded directly to the shaft has a wall thickness less than or equal to the wall thickness of a part of the first layer defining at least a portion of the inflatable section of the balloon prior to inflation of the balloon.  
     
     
         20 . The balloon catheter of claim  17  wherein the first layer defines at least a portion of the proximal skirt section bonded directly to the shaft, the proximal skirt section of the balloon having a rupture pressure of not less than about 14 atm.  
     
     
         21 . The balloon catheter of claim  17  wherein the porous polymer is selected from the group consisting of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, ultra high molecular weight polyolefin, porous polyolefin, and porous polyurethane.