A balloon catheter is a type of "soft" catheter

Catheter

In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters thereby allow drainage, administration of fluids or gases, or access by surgical instruments. The process of inserting a catheter is catheterization...

 with an inflatable

Inflatable

An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflatables depend on the presence of a gas to maintain their...

 "balloon" at its tip which is used during a catheterization procedure to enlarge a narrow opening or passage within the body

Body

With regard to living things, a body is the physical body of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death...

. The deflated balloon catheter is positioned, then inflated to perform the necessary procedure, and deflated again in order to be removed.

Some common uses include:

• angioplasty
  Angioplasty
  Angioplasty is the technique of mechanically widening a narrowed or obstructed blood vessel, the latter typically being a result of atherosclerosis. An empty and collapsed balloon on a guide wire, known as a balloon catheter, is passed into the narrowed locations and then inflated to a fixed size...
  
   or balloon septostomy
  Balloon septostomy
  Balloon septostomy is the widening of a foramen ovale, patent foramen ovale , or atrial septal defect via cardiac catheterization using a balloon catheter...
  
  , via cardiac catheterization
  Cardiac catheterization
  Cardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done for both investigational and interventional purposes...
  
   (heart cath)
• tuboplasty
  Tuboplasty
  A tuboplasty is a surgical operation to correct a fallopian tube obstruction or adhesion, to achieve a pregnancy in women with tubal infertility. Thus, it is a form of assisted reproductive technology.-Techniques:...
  
   via uterine
  Uterus
  The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
  
   catheterization

Angioplasty balloon catheters

Balloon catheters used in angioplasty are either of Over-the-Wire(OTW) or Rapid Exchange(Rx) design. When a balloon catheter is used to compress plaque within a clogged coronary artery it is referred to as a plain old balloon angioplasty or POBA. Balloon catheters are also utilized in the deployment of stents during angioplasty

Angioplasty

Angioplasty is the technique of mechanically widening a narrowed or obstructed blood vessel, the latter typically being a result of atherosclerosis. An empty and collapsed balloon on a guide wire, known as a balloon catheter, is passed into the narrowed locations and then inflated to a fixed size...

. Balloon catheters are supplied to the cath lab with a stent premounted on the balloon. When the cardiologist inflates the balloon it expands the stent. When the cardiologist subsequently deflates the balloon the stent stays behind in the artery and the balloon catheter can be removed. Stents that are used in conjunction with a balloon catheter are known as balloon expandable stents.

External links

• Video of how the original balloon embolectomy catheter works. From MIT Press.