Patent ID: 7578165

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring dimensions of an inflated balloon catheter, comprising: a base plate; a laser measurement device disposed over at least a portion of the base plate; a measurement block disposed over at least a portion of the base plate and configured such that the measurement block lies substantially orthogonal to the laser measurement device, wherein the measurement block comprises an upper surface having a channel; an axial drive mechanism coupled to the channel of the upper surface of the measurement block, wherein the axial drive mechanism comprises a mounting platform disposed on an upper surface of the axial drive mechanism and the axial drive mechanism is capable of translating the mounting platform in an axial direction across at least a portion of the laser measurement device; a rotary drive mechanism capable of being attached to and detached from the mounting platform of the axial drive mechanism, wherein the rotary drive mechanism comprises a holding unit for holding a balloon catheter in a direction generally parallel to the axial direction and capable of rotating a balloon catheter clockwise and counter-clockwise about a central axis defined by the balloon catheter; a control unit coupled to the axial drive mechanism and the rotary drive mechanism, wherein the control unit is capable of actuating the axial drive mechanism to translate in an axial direction and capable of actuating the rotary drive mechanism to rotate about a central axis; and a tube coupled to the rotary drive mechanism for delivering gas to a balloon catheter so as to inflate the balloon catheter with a desired quantity of gas.