The balloons used in BSP are attached to specialized, malleable instruments that provide access to the narrow drainage pathways of the sinuses. They are made of a plastic that doesn’t contain latex, and they are used to dilate the passages open without cutting any tissue, similar to what cardiologists do to open up the blocked blood vessels in the heart (angioplasty). The balloon is inflated with high pressure, which allows it to dilate the narrow or blocked areas open (even if there is bone causing the blockage), and then is withdrawn together with the instruments and endoscope used during the procedure.