Claims
- 1. A medical device comprising a balloon, the balloon formed from a block copolymer thermoplastic elastomer polymer, the polymer being characterized by a flexural modulus of about 150,000 psi or less and a Shore D hardness of at least 60, the balloon having a single wall thickness of less than 0.001 inches and a wall strength in excess of 15,000 psi.
- 2. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the wall strength of the balloon is in excess of 20,000 psi.
- 3. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the polymer is further characterized by an ultimate elongation of about 300% or higher.
- 4. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the balloon has a nominal diameter of 1.5-10 mm.
- 5. A medical device as in claim 1 further comprising a catheter having a distal end, said balloon being mounted on the catheter near said distal end.
- 6. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the block copolymer has a Shore D hardness in the range of 65-75 and a flexural modulus in the range of 50,000-120,000 psi.
- 7. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the polymer is a polyether-block-amide copolymer comprising at least two polyamide hard segments and at least two polyether soft segments.
- 8. A medical device as in claim 7 wherein the polyamide hard segments are polyamides of C6 or higher carboxylic acids and C6 or higher organic diamines or of C6 or higher aliphatic ω-amino-α-acids, and the polyether soft segments are polyethers of C2-C10 diols.
- 9. A medical device as in claim 8 wherein the percentage by weight of the block copolymer attributable to the hard segments is between about 50% and about 95%.
- 10. A medical device as in claim 6 wherein the block copolymer is represented by the formula:
- 11. A medical device as in claim 10 wherein the block copolymer segment, PA, is an aliphatic polyamide of one or more C10- C12 aliphatic acids and one or more C10- C12 aliphatic diamines or of a C10- C12 aliphatic ω-amino-α-acid.
- 12. A medical device as in claim 10 wherein the polyamide segment, PA, is selected from the group consisting of nylon 12, nylon 11, nylon 9, nylon 6, nylon 6/12, nylon 6/11, nylon 6/9 and nylon 6/6.
- 13. A medical device as in claim 10 wherein the polyamide segment, PA, is nylon 12 of a molecular weight of 3,000-5,000, and the polyether segment, PE, is poly(tetramethylene ether) of molecular weight between 500 and 1250.
- 14. A medical device as in claim 10 wherein the polyamide segments, PA, comprise between 80 and 90% by weight of the polyamide/polyether polyester.
- 15. A medical device as in claim 10 wherein said polyether segment, is selected from the group consisting of poly(tetramethylene ether), poly(pentamethylene ether) and poly(hexamethylene ether).
- 16. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the polymer is a polyester-block-ether copolymer comprising at least two polyester hard segments and at least two polyether soft segments.
- 17. A medical device as in claim 16 wherein the polyester hard segments are polyesters of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid and a C2-C4 diol and the polyether soft segments are polyethers of C2-C10 diols.
- 18. A medical device as in claim 17 wherein the percentage by weight of the block copolymer attributable to the hard segments is between about 50% and about 95%.
- 19. A medical device as in claim 16 wherein said polyester segments are polyesters of an acid selected from the group consisting of ortho-, meta- or para-phthalic acid, napthalenedicarboxylic acid and meta-terphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylic acids and a diol selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, 1,3-propane diol and 1,4-butane diol.
- 20. A medical device as in claim 16 wherein the block copolymer is poly(butylene terephthalate-block-poly(tetramethylene oxide).
- 21. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the block copolymer is further characterized by a ultimate tensile strength of at least 6,000 psi.
- 22. A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the polymer has a Shore D hardness of at least 63.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of copending U.S. application No. 09/328,781, filed Jun. 9, 1999, allowed; which is a continuation of U.S. application No. 09/137,658, filed Aug. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,941; which is a division of U.S. application No. 08/805,899, filed Feb. 25, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,182; which is a continuation of U.S. application No. 08/671,861, filed Jun. 28, 1996, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. application No.08/397,837, filed Mar. 2, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,383; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application No. 08/204,554, filed Mar. 2, 1994, now abandoned. The patents listed above are all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Divisions (1)
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08805899 |
Feb 1997 |
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Child |
09137658 |
Aug 1998 |
US |
Continuations (4)
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09328781 |
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10080781 |
Feb 2002 |
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09137658 |
Aug 1998 |
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09328781 |
Jun 1999 |
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08671861 |
Jun 1996 |
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08805899 |
Feb 1997 |
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08397837 |
Mar 1995 |
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08671861 |
Jun 1996 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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