Patent ID: 7316709

Claim:
A balloon catheter, comprising: a) an elongated shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, an inflation lumen, and a tubular member defining a guidewire lumen configured to slidably receive a guidewire therein; b) a balloon secured to the shaft so that an inflatable interior of the balloon is in fluid communication with the inflation lumen, the balloon having an inflatable section and an outer surface; and c) at least one advancement wire having a distal end section secured to a distal tip section of the catheter, a proximal end section at a proximal end section of the catheter, and a textured section extending along the outer surface of at least a portion of the inflatable section of the balloon and external to the guidewire lumen, wherein the advancement wire comprises a core member, and the textured section of the advancement wire is formed by one or more projections which extend in a spiraling pattern longitudinally along an outer surface of the core member and which project from the outer surface of the core member at least in part away from the balloon outer surface, and the spiraling pattern spirals with a pitch which is configured to allow a strut of a ring of a stent around an outer surface of the balloon to fit between adjacent longitudinally spaced apart projections.