Ethicon, Gmbh

Dorothy Dion

Martin Nohilly

Gene W Kammerer

A surgical balloon is provided for insertion into a uterus that includes a substantially continuous outer wall defining an exterior surface of the balloon on a first side and an interior hollow of the balloon on a second side, with the outer wall being formed from a stretchable elastic material and being stretchable by pressure within the inner hollow between a collapsed state and an expanded state. The substantially continuous outer wall has a base portion for coupling with shaft, an intermediate portion adjacent the base portion and an end portion at a distal end of the balloon and adjacent the intermediate portion. The base portion has a first primary wall thickness, the intermediate portion has a second primary wall thickness, and the end portion has a third primary wall thickness.

Surgical balloon having varying wall thickness

A surgical balloon for insertion into a body cavity with a major chamber having a first volume and an annexed minor chamber communicating therewith and having a second volume less than the first volume has a continuous outer wall which defines the exterior surface of the balloon on a first side and the interior hollow of the balloon on a second side. The wall is formed from a stretchable elastic material permitting the interior hollow of the balloon to accommodate a variable volume of fluid ranging from a minimum deflated volume associated with a relaxed state of the wall to a maximum inflated volume associated with a stretched state of the wall. The wall has selected areas of varying expansibility attributable to varying wall thickness, heat or chemical treatment. The wall provides the balloon with an inflated shape within the cavity approximating the interior shape of the body cavity, including a first portion approximating the major chamber and a second portion approximating the minor chamber. As applied to balloons for insertion into the uterus for endometrial ablation therapy, the balloon has a pair of projections for inserting into the uterine cornua. The balloon may be preformed to mimic the uterine shape in the deflated state, and may be formed from polyurethane promoting conformance of the inflated balloon to the uterine cavity.

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West Orange, NJ, United States of America

Dorothy Dion