Atherectomy catheter drive assemblies

A drive assembly for driving an imaging catheter having a rotatable fiber, the drive assembly comprising:

• a fiber optic rotating junction having a stationary portion with a stationary fiber therein and a rotatable portion with a rotatable fiber therein;
• a first optical connector configured to connect the stationary fiber with a light source;
• a motor configured to simultaneously rotate the rotatable portion of the fiber optic rotating junction and a rotatable shaft of the catheter, the motor having a hollow shaft configured to house a portion of the fiber optic rotating junction;
• and
• a second optical connector configured to connect the rotatable portion of the fiber optic rotating junction with the rotatable fiber of the imaging catheter so as to allow torque to simultaneously be transmitted from the motor to the rotatable shaft and the rotatable fiber of the catheter and so as to allow light to be transmitted from the light source to the rotatable fiber of the catheter.