Balloon with fibers for treatment of blood vessels
The disclosed subject matter describes systems and methods of delivering a therapeutic agent, such as a sclerosing agent, to the walls of a blood vessel to perform sclerotherapy. In an exemplary embodiment a catheter includes a balloon having an inner and outer surface defining a wall, and an interior volume with an unexpanded and expanded configuration and a plurality of fibers extending from the outer surface of the balloon wall. In another exemplary embodiment, a balloon catheter comprises a catheter having a balloon with an unexpanded and an expanded configuration, and a retractable sheath disposed on the exterior surface of the balloon, wherein the sheath has an inner surface and an outer surface, and further wherein a plurality of fibers outwardly extend from the outer surface of the sheath.
1. A balloon catheter comprising:
a catheter having at least one lumen extending therethrough;
a balloon having a body including an inner surface and an outer surface defining a balloon wall, wherein the body defines an interior volume in fluid communication with the at least one lumen and having an unexpanded configuration and an expanded configuration; and
a plurality of fibers extending from the outer surface of the balloon wall, wherein the fibers are sufficiently malleable to prevent damage to an intima of a blood vessel.
2. The balloon catheter of claim 1 , wherein the fibers are elongate and hollow.
3. The balloon catheter of claim 2 , wherein the fibers are configured to deliver a therapeutic agent.
4. The balloon catheter of claim 1 , wherein the balloon is constructed from biodegradable materials.
5. The balloon catheter of claim 1 , wherein the outer surface of the balloon is blood phobic.
6. The balloon catheter of claim 1 , wherein the outer surface of the balloon is alcohol phylic.
7. The balloon catheter of claim 1 further including an inflation fluid, wherein the inflation fluid includes a sclerosing agent.
8. The balloon catheter of claim 7 , wherein the sclerosing agent is ethanol.
9. The balloon catheter of claim 1 further comprising a sheath configured to be slidable over the balloon when the balloon is in the unexpanded configuration.
10. The balloon catheter of claim 9 , wherein the sheath is removable from the balloon prior to expansion.
11. The balloon catheter of claim 1 , where the balloon includes perforations through the balloon wall.
12. The balloon catheter of claim 1 , wherein the perforations are approximately 20 microns in diameter.