Textile-reinforced high-pressure balloon

1. A textile-reinforced medical dilation balloon, comprising:

a seamlessly woven tubular textile sleeve including substantially longitudinal warp threads and a single weft thread helically woven substantially perpendicular relative to the warp threads so that said single weft thread extends around, through and along a length of the sleeve with the warp threads and unidirectionally helically between and from a proximal neck portion to a distal neck portion along a winding pitch, or

said single weft thread extends around, through and along a length of the sleeve with the warp threads and unidirectionally helically between and from a distal neck portion to a proximal neck portion along a winding pitch;

wherein the sleeve defines a sleeve lumen,

wherein said single weft thread comprises a high-modulus, high-tensile-strength, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene yarn; and

a medical dilation balloon disposed within the sleeve lumen.

2. The balloon of claim 1 , wherein said single weft thread further comprises polyethylene.

3. The balloon of claim 1 , where the warp threads comprise a combination of polyester and polyethylene threads.

4. The balloon of claim 3 , where at least one of the plurality of threads comprises polyethylene.

5. The balloon of claim 1 , where the warp threads comprise polyethylene.

6. The balloon of claim 1 , where the warp threads comprise polyester.

7. The balloon of claim 1 , further comprising an adhesive coating substantially covering inner and outer surfaces of the sleeve and attaching it to the balloon.

8. The balloon of claim 7 , where the adhesive coating comprises urethane or acrylic.

9. The balloon of claim 1 , where the tubular textile sleeve includes a generally cylindrical central body portion and tapered end portions.

10. The balloon of claim 1 , comprising a rated burst pressure of at least 30 atm.

11. The balloon of claim 1 , comprising a rated burst pressure of at least 35 atm.

12. A textile-reinforced medical dilation balloon prepared by a process comprising the steps of:

constructing a seamless woven tubular textile sleeve including substantially longitudinal warp threads and a single weft thread having a high-modulus, high-tensile-strength, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene yarn composition different from at least one of the warp threads and woven helically substantially perpendicular relative to the warp threads such that said single weft thread extends around, through and along the length of the sleeve with the warp threads and unidirectionally helically between and from a proximal neck portion to a distal neck portion along a winding pitch, or

so that said single weft thread extends around, through and along a length of the sleeve with the warp threads and unidirectionally helically between and from a distal neck portion to a proximal neck portion along a winding pitch;

wherein the sleeve defines a sleeve lumen;

directing a medical dilation balloon disposed on an inflation catheter into the sleeve lumen; and

heating a portion of the sleeve sufficiently to thermally bond the sleeve to the inflation catheter.

13. The balloon of claim 12 , where the warp threads comprise polyester.

14. The balloon of claim 13 , where the warp threads further comprise polyethylene.

15. The balloon of claim 12 , where the medical dilation balloon is oversized relative to the sleeve lumen by at least about 1 percent in at least one dimension.

16. The balloon of claim 12 , where an outer diameter of the medical dilation balloon is at least 5 percent oversized greater than an inner diameter of the sleeve lumen.

17. The balloon of claim 12 , where a warp thread count is about 50 to about 250 threads per inch.

18. The balloon of claim 12 , where a weft thread count is about 50 to about 250 threads per inch.

19. The balloon of claim 12 , where the process further comprises applying an adhesive coating in a manner that substantially covers inner and outer surfaces of the sleeve and attaches it to the balloon.