US Patent Issued to KANEKA on Sept. 29 for "Balloon catheter" (Japanese Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,746,372, issued on Sept. 29, was assigned to KANEKA Corp. (Osaka, Japan).

"Balloon catheter" was invented by Toshihiko Uto (Settsu, Japan), Shintaro Osumi (Settsu, Japan) and Hironori Takata (Settsu, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A balloon catheter (1) comprising: a first shaft (10) having a first lumen (11) and a second lumen (12); a second shaft (20) located distal to the first shaft (10); a balloon (30) located distal to the second shaft (20); and an optical fiber (40) disposed inside the balloon (30); wherein: the first shaft (10) is made of a resin; a cross-sectional area of the resin forming the first shaft (10) is larger t...