US 12,383,119 B2
Balloon for ultrasonic endoscope
Yuto Shimoyama, Kanagawa (JP)
Assigned to FUJIFILM Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by FUJIFILM Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Sep. 5, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/902,901.
Claims priority of application No. 2021-156431 (JP), filed on Sep. 27, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0108503 A1, Apr. 6, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 1/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 1/00082 (2013.01) [A61B 8/445 (2013.01); A61B 8/4483 (2013.01); A61B 8/4281 (2013.01)] 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A balloon for an ultrasonic endoscope that is mounted to cover an outside surface of an ultrasound transducer provided in a distal end part body on a distal end side of an insertion part, the balloon comprising:
a bottomed tubular balloon body that has an opening portion provided at one end in a first direction corresponding to a longitudinal direction of the insertion part and attached to the distal end part body, covers an oscillator surface of the ultrasound transducer, and stores an ultrasonic wave transmission medium inside, to be swellable; and
a swelling restricting part that, in a case where the ultrasonic wave transmission medium is stored inside the balloon body, makes an oscillator surface region facing the oscillator surface of the ultrasound transducer most swollen by restricting a part of the balloon body,
wherein the balloon body has at least a two-layer structure including an inner part that has the opening portion at one end and an outer part that covers the inner part and that is bonded on an opening portion side,
wherein the outer part includes thick portions that are formed to have a thickness greater than a thickness of the oscillator surface region, on both sides of the oscillator surface region in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and transition portions that are formed between the thick portions and the oscillator surface region, and the swelling restricting part comprises the transition portions.