An apparatus for performing a balloon dilation procedure at the site of a stenosis or for deploying a stent in a patient, the apparatus including a single lumen catheter having a proximal end and a distal end, and a high pressure balloon attached to the distal end of the catheter. The high pressure balloon is fabricated from a semi-compliant material that has an average rated burst pressure of between about 15 and about 27 atmospheres of pressure and exhibits a dumbbell-shaped outer periphery when inflated to a first atmospheric pressure and a substantially linear outer periphery when inflated to a second atmospheric pressure.