Patent ID: 8376992

Claim:
A balloon catheter comprising: a flexible sheath which has at least one lumen; and a cylindrical balloon which is fixed to an outer peripheral surface of said sheath and can be inflated with a fluid supplied from said lumen; wherein said sheath includes a portion having a basic outer diameter and a large diameter portion whose outer diameter is greater than the basic outer diameter, the large diameter portion having a sheath wall thickness which is greater than a sheath wall thickness of the portion having the basic outer diameter, the large diameter portion is provided with a supply hole supplying the fluid to the cylindrical balloon, the supply hole communicates with a cavity of the cylindrical balloon, the portion having the basic outer diameter is disposed at both ends of the large diameter portion, such that the large diameter portion is located directly between portions having the basic outer diameter; said balloon is set to have a maximum inner diameter greater than said basic outer diameter when deflated, and a longitudinal position of the maximum inner diameter corresponds to a position of the large diameter portion, and said balloon is attached at axially opposite ends of the balloon to said sheath at the location of the basic outer diameter so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of said large diameter portion when said balloon is deflated.