Patent Publication Number: US-2011056500-A1

Title: Balloon catheter for respiratory tract

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a balloon catheter for the respiratory tract, and more particularly, to a balloon catheter for the respiratory tract, which serves to widen the lumen of the respiratory tract when stricture or stenosis of the lumen occurs due to a lesion, and also, which is configured so as not to block the respiratory tract, thus enabling a patient to breathe even during catheterization. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, lumen stenosis diseases, for example, stenosing airway diseases may be broadly classified, according to the anatomical site of a lesion, into intraluminal obstruction, extrinsic compression, and malacia. 
     Catheterization has been performed to remedy life-threatening dyspnea that is caused by extrinsic compression and malacia of the above mentioned stenosing airway diseases. 
     In catheterization, a catheter in a non-inflated state is inserted into the lumen of the respiratory tract until the catheter reaches the stenosed site of the lumen. Thereafter, the catheter is inflated to push the stenosed site outward, thereby serving to widen the lumen of the respiratory tract. 
     However, the catheter, which is inflated to have a balloon shape, may make it impossible for a patient to breathe while the catheter widens the stenosed respiratory tract. 
     In consideration of breathing of a patient, catheterization should be performed within an extremely limited time and thus, suffers from remarkable deterioration in stability. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is one object of the present invention to provide a balloon catheter for the respiratory tract, in which a balloon is inserted into the lumen of the respiratory tract and then, is inflated to have a cylindrical shape as inflation gas is injected into the balloon, thereby serving to widen the lumen of the respiratory tract stenosed by a lesion. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a balloon catheter for the respiratory tract, in which a balloon is inflated to have a hollow cylindrical shape, thereby enabling a patient to breathe while widening the stenosed site of the respiratory tract. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a balloon catheter for a respiratory tract, which serves to widen the lumen of the respiratory tract stenosed by a lesion formed in the respiratory tract, the catheter including a tube unit having a double structure consisting of an inner tube and an outer tube spaced apart from the inner tube to surround the inner tube, and a cylindrical balloon integrally connected to facing distal ends of the inner and outer tubes, wherein the cylindrical balloon is inflated as inflation gas is supplied into the outer tube, thereby acting to widen the stenosed or narrowed lumen of the respiratory tract, and simultaneously, oxygen is supplied into the inner tube to pass through the cylindrical balloon to enable a patient to breathe. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a balloon catheter for the respiratory tract in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a longitudinal sectional view of the portion A of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a longitudinal sectional view of the portion B of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a balloon catheter for the respiratory tract in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a partial sectional perspective view of the portion C of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a longitudinal sectional view of the portion D of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 7  is an exemplary view illustrating implantation of the balloon catheter for the respiratory tract of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is an exemplary view illustrating implantation of the balloon catheter for the respiratory tract of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     A balloon catheter for the respiratory tract in accordance with the present invention serves to widen the lumen of the respiratory tract  300  that is stenosed by a lesion formed in the respiratory tract  300 . The balloon catheter is configured to enable a patient to breathe during catheterization to widen the lumen of the respiratory tract  300 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 3  and  7 , the balloon catheter  100  for the respiratory tract in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention includes a tube unit  10  and a cylindrical balloon  20 . 
     The tube unit  10  has a double structure consisting of an inner tube  11  and an outer tube  12  spaced apart from the inner tube  11  to surround the inner tube  11 . 
     In this case, both the inner tube  11  and the outer tube  12  are inserted into the respiratory tract  300 . The inner tube  11  is provided at one end thereof with a connector lie such that the connector  11   a  is connected to a device (not shown) that supplies oxygen O into the inner tube  11 . The outer tube  12  is provided at an outer peripheral surface thereof with a branched connector  12   a  such that the connector  12   a  is connected to a device (not shown) that supplies inflation gas G into a space between the inner tube  11  and the outer tube  12 . 
     The cylindrical balloon  20  is integrally connected to facing distal ends of the inner and outer tubes  11  and  12 . 
     Here, the cylindrical balloon  20  includes a single body  21 , which is formed by overlapping synthetic vinyl in two layers and thus, has a bilinear U-shaped cross section. 
     In the single body  21  formed of the two synthetic vinyl layers, an upper end of the inner layer is connected to the inner tube  11  and an upper end of the outer layer is connected to the outer tube  12 . 
     That is, the cylindrical balloon  20  may be made of synthetic vinyl or synthetic rubber that is easily expandable or contractable, and an upper end of the cylindrical balloon  20  may have a hollow donut shape when viewed in plan. 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 4 to 6  and  8 , a balloon catheter  200  for the respiratory tract in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention includes the tube unit  10  and a cylindrical balloon  30 . 
     The tube unit  10  has a double structure consisting of the inner tube  11  and the outer tube  12  spaced apart from the outer tube  12 . In the present embodiment, the tube unit  10  further includes a plurality of guides  13 , which are circumferentially arranged at a constant interval in the space between the inner tube  11  and the outer tube  12  and are configured to longitudinally connect the inner tube  11  and the outer tube  12  to each other, and a plurality of passages  14  defined between the respective neighboring guides  13 . 
     In this case, the tube unit  10  may be formed by an injection molding method. The guides  13  serve to integrally connect the inner and outer tubes  11  and  12  to each other to reinforce the tube unit  10  and also, serve to define the passages  14  for movement of inflation gas G. 
     The cylindrical balloon  30  includes a single body  31 , which is formed by overlapping synthetic vinyl in two layers and thus, has a bilinear U-shaped cross section. 
     In the single body  31  formed of the two synthetic vinyl layers, an upper end of the inner layer is connected to the inner tube  11  and an upper end of the outer layer is connected to the outer tube  12 . 
     The cylindrical balloon  30  further includes a plurality of inflatable portions  32 , which extend in a longitudinal direction of the cylindrical balloon  30  and are circumferentially arranged at a constant interval on the periphery of the single body  31  so as to be connected to the respective passages  14  of the tube unit  10 . 
     In this case, even if any one of the inflatable portions  32  is damaged and fails to inflate, the balloon  30  is able to maintain a cylindrical shape thereof. 
     Hereinafter, the implantation process and operational effects of the catheter  100  or  200  in accordance with the present invention will be described. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3  and  7 , the catheter  100  is inserted into the respiratory tract  300 , having a stenosed site S due to a lesion, through the patient&#39;s mouth. In this case, the catheter  100  is inserted in a state in which inflation gas G is not yet injected into the cylindrical balloon  20 , and is connected to the devices (not shown) for injection of oxygen O and inflation gas G prior to being inserted into the respiratory tract  300 . 
     After the cylindrical balloon  20  of the catheter  100  is completely inserted into the stenosed site S, inflation gas G is injected into the outer tube  12  and simultaneously, oxygen O is injected into the inner tube  11 . 
     As the injected inflation gas G moves in the space between the inner tube  11  and the outer tube  12  to thereby be filled in the cylindrical balloon  20 , the single body  21  is inflated to have a cylindrical tube shape and thus, acts to push the inner wall surface of the stenosed site S of the respiratory tract  300  in all directions, thereby widening the stenosed site S. 
     After injection of the inflation gas G is completed, an entrance of the connector  12   a  provided at the outer tube is closed to prevent a reduction in the volume of the cylindrical balloon  20 . 
     That is, the cylindrical balloon  20  is inflated as the inflation gas G is supplied into the outer tube  12 , thereby acting to widen the stenosed or narrowed lumen of the respiratory tract  300 , and simultaneously, the oxygen O is supplied through the inner tube  11  to pass through the cylindrical balloon  20 , thereby enabling the patient to breathe. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 to 6  and  8 , the catheter  200  is inserted into the respiratory tract  300 , having a stenosed site S due to a lesion, through the patient&#39;s mouth. In this case, the catheter  200  is inserted in a state in which inflation gas G is not yet injected into the cylindrical balloon  30 , and is connected to the devices (not shown) for injection of oxygen O and inflation gas G prior to being inserted into the respiratory tract  300 . 
     After the cylindrical balloon  30  of the catheter  100  is completely inserted into the stenosed site S, inflation gas G is injected into the outer tube  12  and simultaneously, oxygen O is injected into the inner tube  11 . 
     As the injected inflation gas G moves into the respective inflatable portions  32  through the respective passages  14  of the tube unit  10 , the cylindrical body  31  is inflated to have a cylindrical tube shape and thus, acts to push the inner wall surface of the stenosed site S of the respiratory tract  300  in all directions, thereby widening the stenosed site S. 
     After injection of the inflation gas G is completed, the entrance of the connector  12   a  provided at the outer tube is closed to prevent a reduction in the volume of the cylindrical balloon  30 . 
     That is, the cylindrical balloon  30  is inflated as the inflation gas G is supplied into the outer tube  12 , thereby acting to widen the stenosed or narrowed lumen of the respiratory tract  300 , and simultaneously, the oxygen O supplied through the inner tube  11  passes through the cylindrical balloon  30  to enable the patient to breathe. 
     As described above, when a conventional balloon catheter is implanted into the lumen of the respiratory tract to widen the lumen stenosed by a lesion, the conventional catheter disadvantageously closes the lumen of the respiratory tract, thus making it impossible for the patient to breathe. Therefore, the conventional balloon catheter has an extremely limited time to widen the stenoise site of the lumen and thus, it may be necessary to perform catheterization several times. On the other hand, the catheter  100  or  200  of the present invention adopts a hollow cylindrical balloon suitable to open the respiratory tract  300  of the patient, thus enabling the patient to continue breathing and achieving an extended implantation time. 
     As is apparent from the above description, in a balloon catheter for the respiratory tract in accordance with the present invention, a balloon is inserted into the lumen of the respiratory tract and is inflated to have a cylindrical shape as inflation gas G is injected into the balloon, thereby effectively widening the lumen of the respiratory tract stenosed by a lesion. 
     In addition, as the balloon is inflated to have a hollow cylindrical shape, the balloon catheter has the effect of enabling a patient to breathe while widening the stenosed site of the lumen. This results in stability in catheterization. 
     Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.