Patent ID: 7011646

Claim:
A balloon catheter, comprising a) an elongated shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one lumen; and b) a balloon having a proximal and a distal skirt section secured to the shaft so that an interior of the balloon is in fluid communication with the at least one lumen of the shaft, and having a noninflated configuration, an inflated configuration, a working length section, a proximal tapered section having a proximal end at a distal end of the proximal skirt section and a distal end at a proximal end of the working length section, a distal tapered section having a proximal end at a distal end of the working length section and a distal end at a proximal end of the distal skirt section, a first layer formed of a first polymeric material, and a second layer formed of a second polymeric material different from the first polymeric material, the first and second layers extending from the proximal skirt section to the distal skirt section of the balloon, such that the second polymeric material extends from the proximal to the distal skirt section of the balloon, the second layer having a wall thickness, the wall thickness of the second layer along the entire working length section from the proximal to the distal end of the working length section being greater than the wall thickness of the second layer along at least one of the proximal tapered section and the distal tapered section of the balloon from the proximal to the distal end of the tapered section in the noninflated configuration, so that the working length section defines a thickened wall portion of the balloon.