Patent ID: 8292912

Claim:
A balloon catheter for intraluminal medical treatment, comprising: a catheter comprising a proximal shaft portion and an inner shaft portion attached to said proximal shaft portion, said inner shaft portion being disposed distal from said proximal shaft portion, wherein a first lumen extends through at least part of said proximal shaft portion and a second lumen extends through at least said proximal shaft portion and said inner shaft portion; a balloon comprising a proximal end and a distal end, said proximal end and said distal end being attached to said catheter, said balloon thereby encompassing at least a part of said inner shaft portion between said proximal end and said distal end, and said first lumen being exposed to an interior of said balloon; wherein said balloon is collapsible onto said catheter to facilitate intraluminal insertion of said balloon and said catheter into a body cavity, said catheter being threadable through a body lumen by extending a guidewire through said second lumen, said balloon thereby being inflatable to dilate said body cavity by passing an inflation media through said first lumen into said interior of said balloon; and wherein a double wall thickness of said balloon is about 0.003″ or less and said inner shaft portion is made from a non-corrugated elastic material with a Young's modulus low enough to permit said inner shaft portion to stretch as said balloon is inflated to minimize curving of said balloon due to a pressure of said inflation media.