Atherectomy catheters and methods of use

A method of performing atherectomy, comprising:

• inserting an atherectomy catheter into a vessel lumen, the atherectomy catheter including an elongate body and cutter, wherein the cutter is coupled to a driveshaft, and wherein an optical fiber runs through the driveshaft and has a distal end that is attached to an opening of the cutter;
• rotating the cutter and the optical fiber with respect to the elongate body by rotating the driveshaft with respect to the elongate body;
• longitudinally displacing the driveshaft within the elongate body to expose a distal cutting edge of the cutter through a side opening of the elongate body;
• and
• capturing images of the vessel lumen with the optical fiber attached to the cutter, wherein the images are collected through the opening of the cutter, wherein the optical fiber extends a length of the elongate body.

A method of performing atherectomy, comprising:

• inserting an atherectomy catheter into a vessel lumen, the atherectomy catheter including an elongate body and cutter, wherein the cutter is coupled to a driveshaft, and wherein an optical fiber runs through the driveshaft and has a distal end that is attached to an opening of the cutter;
• longitudinally displacing the driveshaft within the elongate body to expose a distal cutting edge of the cutter through a side opening of the elongate body;
• rotating the cutter to cut tissue from the vessel lumen with the exposed distal cutting edge;
• capturing images of the vessel lumen with the optical fiber attached to the cutter, wherein the images are collected through the opening of the cutter;
• and
• packing tissue cut from the vessel lumen into a distal tip of the atherectomy catheter.