Doppler guiding catheter using sensed blood turbulence levels
AssigneeCardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
InventorPaul Craig Haldeman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A guiding catheter includes a Doppler sensor disposed at a distal end of a flexible shaft. The Doppler sensor can sense a blood flow turbulence level within a chamber of the heart or a blood vessel of the heart. Detecting changes in a blood flow turbulence level is used to assist guiding of the distal end of the flexible shaft. The Doppler sensor may include a piezoelectric sensor or an optical sensor. The sensor readings may be processed to show turbulence through a time domain or frequency domain presentation of velocity. The sensor readings can be used to modulate an audible waveform to indicate turbulence. The guiding catheter may further include steering apparatus enabling deflection of the distal tip.
Claims20
A guiding catheter used for locating a patient's circulatory structure, comprising:
- a flexible shaft having an open lumen dimensioned for receiving a payload;
- a Doppler sensor arrangement disposed at a distal end of the flexible shaft and configured for sensing blood flow velocity within the patient's circulatory structure accessed by the distal end of the flexible shaft, the Doppler sensor arrangement producing blood flow velocity signals;
- and
- a detector communicatively coupled to the Doppler sensor arrangement, the detector configured to detect changes in blood flow turbulence using the blood flow velocity signals, wherein a detected change in blood flow turbulence is indicative of a relative change in position of the flexible shaft's distal end between cardiac vessel and cardiac chamber locations.
A method for locating a destination blood vessel, comprising:
- providing a guiding catheter comprising a flexible shaft having an open lumen dimensioned to receive a payload and a Doppler sensor arrangement disposed at a distal end of the flexible shaft;
- distally advancing the guiding catheter through a circulatory pathway which includes at least a portion of a heart chamber;
- sensing blood flow velocity components using the Doppler sensor arrangement;
- detecting changes in blood flow turbulence based on the sensed blood flow velocity components;
- and
- detecting a relative change in position of the flexible shaft's distal end between destination blood vessel and heart chamber locations based at least in part on the detected changes in blood flow turbulence.
A system for locating a destination blood vessel, comprising:
- a guiding catheter comprising a flexible shaft having an open lumen dimensioned to receive a payload;
- means for sensing blood flow velocity components using Doppler sensing;
- means for detecting changes in blood flow turbulence based on the sensed blood flow velocities;
- and
- means for detecting a relative change in position of the flexible shaft's distal end between destination blood vessel and heart chamber locations based at least in part on the detected changes in blood flow turbulence.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.