Intravascular imaging guidewire

An imaging guidewire for imaging an internal body structure with acoustic or light energy, the imaging guidewire comprising:

• a body in the form of an elongate flexible tubular member, said body having a proximal end and a distal end, at least a portion of said body being at least substantially transparent to said acoustic or light energy;
• a flexible elongate imaging core slidably received within said body, said imaging core having a shaft and an imaging device mounted on a distal end of said shaft and arranged to position said imaging device in axial relation to said substantially transparent portion of said body, said imaging device adapted to receive said acoustic or light energy related to said internal body structure and to transmit imaging signals to an imaging signal processor;
• and
• a connector having a distal component including a conductive ring through which a coaxial cable having an inner lead and an outer lead separated by a first insulator is inserted and said conductive ring filled with a first portion of conductive epoxy to electrically connect the outer lead to the conductive ring;
• the connector also having a proximal component including a second conductor having stepped tubular section and a ball-shaped end having a cavity, an insulator covering said stepped tubular section, the inner lead and insulation extending through said tubular section and into said cavity, and said cavity filled with a second portion of conductive epoxy to electrically connect said inner lead to said second conductor, said proximal component inserted into said conductive ring by inserting said stepped tubular section covered with said insulator into said conductive ring.

A method for diagnosis and treatment of an internal body structure by using acoustic or light energy, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing an imaging guidewire including;
• a body in the form of an elongate flexible tubular member, said body having a proximal end and a distal end, at least a portion of said body being at least substantially transparent to said acoustic or light energy;
• a flexible elongate imaging core slidably received within said body, said imaging core having a shaft and an imaging device mounted on a distal end of said shaft and arranged to position said imaging device in axial relation to said substantially transparent portion of said body, said imaging device adapted to receive said acoustic or light energy related to said internal body structure and to transmit imaging signals to an imaging signal processor;
• the imaging guidewire having a maximum diameter along its entire length not exceeding that which can effectively receive a guidewire lumen of an intravascular catheter;
• wherein said imaging core is axially translatable relative to said body to enable axial translation of said imaging device;
• providing a connector attached to a proximal end of said shaft, said connector providing only a mechanical connection with a mating connector of a drive unit;
• introducing said imaging guidewire into a vessel of a vascular system and routing said imaging guidewire to the internal body structure;
• producing images of said internal body structure using said imaging device;
• and
• axially translating said imaging core relative to said body to image a length of the internal body structure.