1. An apparatus for performing procedure within a patient’s body, comprising:
a tubular member comprising a proximal end, a distal end sized for introduction into a patient’s body, and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween;
a non-compliant balloon carried on the distal end comprising a central region and end regions transitioning from the central region to attachment locations on the distal end, the balloon expandable from a contracted condition to an expanded condition; and
a supporting structure comprising one or more substantially inelastic fibers extending helically around an outer surface of the balloon and comprising ends attached to the distal end such that the one or more fibers are movable relative to the central region of the balloon.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more fibers are configured to slide along the outer surface during expansion of the balloon to increase a helical angle of the one or more fibers relative to the longitudinal axis, thereby causing the end regions of the balloon to move towards one another and shorten an overall length of the balloon.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the balloon is attached to the distal end of the tubular member at first and second locations and therein the distal end of the tubular member between the first and second location is configured to foreshorten during expansion of the balloon to accommodate bending of the distal end.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the supporting structure comprises a plurality of fibers wound helically around the outer surface of the balloon.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein one or more of the plurality of fibers are wound helically in a first direction and one or more of the plurality of fibers are wound helically in a second direction such that the fibers overlap one another at one or more intersecting locations.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the fibers are coupled at one or more of the intersecting locations.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the end regions taper to ends attached to the distal end of the tubular member and wherein the one or more fibers are attached to the distal end of the tubular member such that the one or more fibers are slidable along the end regions of the balloon.
8. A method for performing a medical procedure, comprising:
introducing a distal end of a tubular member into a patient’s body with a non-compliant balloon thereon in a contracted condition and one or more inelastic fibers on the balloon in a low-profile configuration;
positioning the balloon within a lesion within a body lumen; and
expanding the balloon to an expanded condition, thereby reconfiguring the one or more fibers to shorten the balloon as the balloon expands.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the lesion is positioned within a curved region of the body lumen, and wherein the one or more fibers prevent straightening of the balloon within the curved region.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein expanding the balloon to the expanded condition causes the one or more fibers to create one or more folds in the balloon.
11. A method for making a balloon catheter, comprising:
providing a tubular body including a proximal end, a distal end sized for introduction into a patient’s body, and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween;
forming a balloon from non-compliant material comprising first and second end regions and a central region therebetween;
attaching the end regions to the tubular member distal end at first and second spaced-apart attachment locations;
at least one of folding and rolling the balloon into a contracted condition around the tubular member distal end;
positioning a plurality of inelastic fibers around the balloon with the balloon in the contracted condition such that the fibers extend helically around an outer surface of the balloon; and
attaching first and second ends of the fibers adjacent the balloon end regions such that the fibers remain movable freely relative to the outer surface along at least the central region of the balloon.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the fibers are attached such that a predetermined axial tension is imposed along the lengths of the fibers between the first and second ends of the fibers.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein at least a first fiber is wound helically around the balloon in a first helical direction and at least a second fiber is wound helically around the balloon in a second helical direction such that the first and second fibers overlap one another at one or more intersecting points.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising coupling the first fiber to the second fiber at one or more of the one or more intersecting points.
15. The method of claim 11, wherein providing the tubular body comprises forming the tubular member distal end such that a portion of the tubular member distal end between the attachment locations is flexible.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the portion of the tubular member distal end between the attachment locations is biased to an extended position and is resiliently axially compressible to accommodate foreshortening of the balloon during inflation.
17. The method of claim 11, further comprising treating the outer surface of the balloon to increase frictional contact between the outer surface and the fibers during balloon inflation.
18. A catheter or sheath comprising:
an elongate tubular member including a proximal end, a distal end sized for introduction into a patient’s body, an inflation lumen extending therebetween, and a working lumen larger than the inflation lumen extending therebetween;
a balloon on the distal end comprising a generally cylindrical central section, end sections attached to the distal end of the tubular member, and an interior communicating with the inflation lumen; and
one or more inelastic fibers wound around an outer surface of the balloon and unattached to the central section of the balloon, wherein at least the central section of the balloon comprises a high-friction outer surface to substantially fix the relative position of the one or more fibers relative to the balloon when the balloon is expanded beyond a threshold size.
19. The catheter or sheath of claim 18, wherein the working lumen has an inner diameter greater than 0.018 inch.
20. The catheter or sheath of claim 18, wherein the one or more inelastic fibers are attached to one or both of:
the end sections of the balloon; and
the distal end of the tubular member adjacent the end sections of the balloon.
21-50. (canceled)
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A diblock copolymer represented by the following general formula (I)
X\u2014Y \u2003\u2003(I)
in which X represents a polymer block made mainly of alkyl methacrylate units wherein the alkyl is one having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or one having a cyclic structure; Y represents a polymer block made mainly of alkyl acrylate units wherein the alkyl has 1 to 20 carbon atoms andor alkyl methacrylate units wherein the alkyl has 5 to 20 carbon atoms, the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of the polymer block X being from 1,000 to 8,000 and the ratio of the mass of the polymer block X to that of the polymer block Y, which is the XY mass ratio, being in the range of 199 to 1090.
2. The diblock copolymer according to claim 1, wherein the polymer block X is made mainly of the alkyl methacrylate units wherein the alkyl is one having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and the polymerization block Y is made mainly of the alkyl acrylate units wherein the alky has 1 to 20 carbon atoms.
3. The diblock copolymer according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of the polymer block X to the number-average molecular weight (Mn) thereof (MwMn) is 1.5 or less.
4. The diblock copolymer according to claim 1, which has a viscosity of 1 to 1,000 Pa.s at temperatures of 80 to 120\xb0 C. (inclusive).
5. An adhesive composition comprising the diblock copolymer according to claim 1.
6. The adhesive composition according to claim 5, further comprising at least one block copolymer selected from block copolymers which are different from the diblock copolymer described in any one of claims 1 to 4 and are represented by the formulae (A-B)a, (A-B\u2014C)b, (A-B)c-A and (A-B)m-Z in which A, B and C represent polymer blocks different from each other, and at least one thereof is made of alkyl acrylate units andor alkyl methacrylate units, a, b and c may be the same or different and each represents an integer of 1 to 10, m represents an integer of 3 to 30, and Z represents a compound residue which makes it possible that the plural copolymers (A-B) can be bonded to each other.
7. The adhesive composition according to claim 6, wherein the block copolymer is a triblock copolymer represented by the formula A-B-A or the formula A-B\u2014C in which A, B and C represent polymer blocks different from each other, A is made of alkyl methacrylate units, B is made of alkyl acrylate units, and C is made of alkyl acrylate units or alkyl methacrylate units.
8. The adhesive composition according to claim 5, further comprising a tackifier.
9. The adhesive composition according to claim 5, which is a hot-melt type adhesive.
10. An adhesive material, comprising the adhesive composition according to claim 5.
11. The diblock copolymer according to claim 2, wherein the ratio of the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of the polymer block X to the number-average molecular weight (Mn) thereof (MwMn) is 1.5 or less.
12. The diblock copolymer according to claim 2, which has a viscosity of 1 to 1,000 Pa.s at temperatures of 80 to 120\xb0 C. (inclusive).
13. The diblock copolymer according to claim 3, which has a viscosity of 1 to 1,000 Pa.s at temperatures of 80 to 120\xb0 C. (inclusive).
14. An adhesive composition comprising the diblock copolymer according to claim 2.
15. An adhesive composition comprising the diblock copolymer according to claim 3.
16. An adhesive composition comprising the diblock copolymer according to claim 4.
17. An adhesive composition comprising the diblock copolymer according to claim 11.
18. An adhesive composition comprising the diblock copolymer according to claim 12.
19. An adhesive composition comprising the diblock copolymer according to claim 13.
20. The adhesive composition according to claim 14, further comprising at least one block copolymer selected from block copolymers which are different from the diblock copolymer described in any one of claims 1 to 4 and are represented by the formulae (A-B)a, (A-B\u2014C)b, (A-B)c-A and (A-B)m-Z in which A, B and C represent polymer blocks different from each other, and at least one thereof is made of alkyl acrylate units andor alkyl methacrylate units, a, b and c may be the same or different and each represents an integer of 1 to 10, m represents an integer of 3 to 30, and Z represents a compound residue which makes it possible that the plural copolymers (A-B) can be bonded to each other.