Patent ID: 8152760

Claim:
A medical balloon having a resistance to circumferential tearing, the medical balloon comprising: a substantially cylindrical portion disposed between first and second tapered portions, the first and second tapered portions having a decreasing cross-sectional area along a length thereof away from the cylindrical portion, the substantially cylindrical portion comprising first and second end portions and a midsection disposed therebetween, the midsection spanning no more than about 30% of a total length of the medical balloon and comprising a first region having a first resistance to tearing and one or more second regions having a second resistance to tearing, the second resistance to tearing being lower than the first resistance to tearing and lower than a resistance to tearing of the first and second end portions, wherein the one or more second regions in total extend less than 10% of a circumference of the substantially cylindrical portion and do not extend beyond the midsection, and wherein the one or more second regions extend through the entire thickness of the medical balloon.