Patent ID: 7037562

Claim:
A balloon for use in a balloon catheter including a tubing, said balloon having a high strength for resisting bursting during over inflation, and said balloon comprising a blended nano-composite reinforced polymer matrix consisting essentially of a polymer selected from nylon 12 or PET and a nano composite selected from carbon nano-tubes or nano-ceramic fibers together with a lubricant to aid dispersion of the nano composite during blending of the matrix, said polymer and nano composite matrix being formed by controlling the volume or weight percent of nano composite in the matrix relative to the polymer such that the nano composite is between 0.20% and 20% by weight of the matrix and the polymer is between 80% and 99.80% of the matrix, by controlling the “wetting” of the nano composite in the matrix; and by controlling the orientation of the nano tubes or nano ceramic fibers within the matrix that is formed into a tube which is blow molded into said balloon wherein the nano-tubes or ceramic fibers are oriented along the axis of the balloon or tangentially in the wall of the tube.