Patent ID: 9095374
Filing Date: 2015-08-04
Classification: A61B,A61M

Abstract:
1. A balloon catheter comprising: a main catheter shaft including a guidewire lumen and an inflation lumen; a balloon extending from a distal end of the main catheter shaft, wherein the inflation lumen of the main catheter shaft is in fluid communication with an interior of the balloon; a deformable guidewire shaft extending from a distal end of the main catheter shaft, adjacent and external to the balloon, wherein the deformable guidewire shaft defines a lumen in fluid communication with the guidewire lumen of the main catheter shaft; a proximal bond that fixes a proximal end of the balloon to a distal end of the main catheter shaft; a distal bond that fixes a distal end of the balloon to a distal end of the deformable guidewire shaft, wherein an outer surface of the deformable guidewire shaft between the proximal bond and the distal bond is not bonded to the balloon; a first magnetic component coupled to or insertable within or over an intermediate portion of the balloon; and a second magnetic component coupled to or insertable within or over an intermediate portion of the deformable guidewire shaft, wherein the first and second magnetic components are operable to selectively and temporarily couple the intermediate portion of the balloon and the intermediate portion of the deformable guidewire shaft together, wherein balloon inflation causes the balloon and the deformable guidewire shaft to bend in radially opposing directions when the intermediate portions of the balloon and the deformable guidewire shaft are not coupled together and causes the balloon and the deformable guidewire shaft to bend in the same direction when the intermediate portions of the balloon and the deformable guidewire shaft are coupled together, thereby selectively orienting the distal end of the deformable guidewire shaft in a direction different from that of the main catheter shaft.