A low profile inflation valve located inside a balloon catheter that enables a
user to inflate the balloon and exchange other medical apparatus over the catheter
while the balloon remains inflated.
The low profile inflation valve of the present invention includes a first tube
having a lumen and at least one region of decreased inner diameter, and a structure
movably located inside the lumen of said first tube, wherein said region of decreased
inner diameter of said first tube forms a seal with a portion of said structure.
The present invention further includes a method of making a low profile inflation
valve using a first and second tube comprising the steps of creating an aperture
in at least one side of a second tube, placing the second tube inside a first tube,
the first tube being made of thermoplastic material, applying heat to a localized
area of the first tube, and compressing the first tube to form a region of reduced
internal diameter, the reduced diameter forming a seal with the outside diameter
of the second tube.
