title: The design and clinical application of a new #5 French angioplasty catheter.
abstract: Although major technological advances have occurred in coronary artery angioplasty balloons and steerable wire systems, there have been surprisingly few advances in the development and designs for balloons in the peripheral circulation. For example, a #7 French shaft has become the standard for most peripheral as well as visceral angioplasty balloons. In most instances, the shaft is unnecessarily large and not only interferes with tractability over the conventional wire but in certain situations is also unnecessarily traumatic to the vascular intima as the catheter is passed to the angioplasty site. For these reasons a newly designed catheter with a shaft measuring 1.67 mm (#5 French) has been designed to incorporate a variety of dimensional balloons varying from 2 mm through 7 mm. In addition, the open end allows passage of a .035 inch wire and consequently the balloon is ideally suited for applications from vessels as small as the tibial circulation or renal visceral or iliac circulation.
mesh_terms: D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D011150:Popliteal Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D013977:Tibia / Q000098:blood supply