The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 30, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 21, 1998
Jerrold Foote, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Merit Medical Systems, Inc., South Jordan, UT (US);
Abstract
A system for selectively inflating and deflating a balloon of a dilation balloon catheter. The system includes an inflation syringe that generates a positive pressure for inflating the balloon and a vacuum source that generates a negative pressure for deflating the balloon. A valve is used to selectively establish fluid communication between the vacuum source and the catheter. The valve may be a manually operable device for alternatingly and selectively applying the positive and negative pressures to the catheter. Alternatively, the valve includes a port in a wall of the barrel of the inflation syringe. The port is obstructed when the plunger of the inflation syringe is advanced beyond a specified point in the barrel. An obstructed port isolates the negative pressure of the vacuum source from the catheter, while an opened port establishes fluid communication between the vacuum source and the catheter. The system may be used to position a stent in a treated artery of a patient. The stent is placed at the desired position using an inflated balloon, and the stent is released by deflating the balloon with the negative pressure.