Patent ID: 8956374
Filing Date: 2015-02-17
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method for cracking calcified lesions in the wall of a blood vessel of a patient comprising: providing a catheter including an elongated carrier, an angioplasty balloon at one end of the carrier in sealed relation thereto, the carrier defining a guide wire lumen extending through the balloon, the balloon having an outer surface and being arranged to receive a fluid therein that inflates the balloon, and an arc generator including a pair of electrodes located between the guide wire lumen and the outer surface of the balloon; inserting the catheter into the blood vessel of a patient on a guide wire adjacent to a calcified lesion; admitting fluid into the balloon after inserting the catheter into the blood vessel of a patient; and applying high voltage pulses to the arc generator to form a series of mechanical shock waves originating between the guide wire lumen and the outer surface of the balloon with the shock waves being conducted through the balloon to crack the calcified lesions while the balloon remains intact.