Abstract: The shaft of a dilation balloon catheter includes three lumens; a dilation balloon lumen, a guidewire lumen, and an inner balloon lumen. A dilation balloon near the distal near the distal end of the catheter is inflated and deflated through the dilation balloon lumen. An inner balloon within the guidewire lumen provides a means for releasably securing a guidewire disposed within the guidewire lumen, thereby allowing the catheter to be configured as a fixed-wire catheter and an over-the-wire catheter. The inner balloon is inflated and deflated through the inner balloon lumen. A longitudinally-extending separable area in the wall of the guidewire lumen allows the guidewire to pass transversely therethrough, thereby allowing the catheter to be removed from a patient while leaving the guidewire in place within the patient. A method for constructing the shaft is also provided.
Abstract: A vibration isolation system comprises four tunable dual-axis hydraulic inertial isolators, an array of accelerometers, and a controller. The controller inputs signals from the accelerometers and outputs signals to tune the isolators to minimize the vibration transmitted from a vibrating body to an isolated body. The isolators are tuned by varying the dimensions of their tuning passages or by application of magnetohydrodynamic force to the liquid within the tuning passages.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 17, 1997
Date of Patent:
January 6, 1998
Assignee:
Bell Helicopter
Inventors:
Michael Reaugh Smith, Frank Bradley Stamps