ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 1 -- United States Patent no. 12,721,970, issued on Sept. 1, was assigned to TOGO MEDIKIT Co. LTD. (Tokyo).
"Trapping balloon catheter" was invented by Yasuaki Kajiwara (Tokyo) and Tomikazu Fukumoto (Tokyo).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The trapping balloon catheter includes a catheter shaft formed to a predetermined total length L from a rear end connected to a hub to a tip. A balloon is provided in a tip region of the catheter shaft and urges and fixes a guide wire to an inner peripheral surface of a guiding catheter by being expanded in a lumen of the guiding catheter. A stopper is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the catheter shaft and is capable of adjust...