Patent ID: 6951566

Claim:
An apparatus for incising a stenosis in a vascular conduit of a patient, said apparatus comprising: a catheter having a distal end and defining a longitudinal axis; an inflatable balloon mounted on said catheter proximate said distal end, said balloon formed with an external surface and being insertable into the vasculature of a patient for movement therein between a deflated configuration and an inflated configuration, said external surface having at least one section including a first point radially distanced from said longitudinal axis at a distance d 1 and a second point radially distanced from said longitudinal axis at a distance d 2 with d 1 >d 2 when said balloon is in said inflated configuration; and at least one incising blade having a proximal end and a distal end, said blade being attached to said external surface of said balloon and oriented with said proximal end of said incising blade at said first point and said distal end of said incising blade at said second point and wherein said incising blade is formed with the cutting edge and said cutting edge is substantially straight.