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US 2008/0177145 A1Published application
Miniature fiber optic spectroscopy probes
AssigneePrescient Medical, Inc.
InventorSimon M. Furnish
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention provides various fiber optic probe assemblies for the delivery and collection of light in small spaces. The provided probe assemblies are small, flexible and well suited to performing minimally invasive spectroscopic examinations of biological tissues in-vivo. The invention also provides intravascular catheters that include the fiber optic probe assemblies.
Claims12
-18. (canceled)
A flexible intravascular optical catheter for performing spectroscopic analysis of a blood vessel wall:
- an elongate catheter body having a proximal end and a distal insertion end;
- an optical interrogation section disposed near the distal insertion end, wherein the optical interrogation section comprises at least two probe arms, each probe arm comprising:
- a fiber optic probe assemblage according to claim 1 disposed in a flexible tube that is radially bowed or bowable outward to contact or near a blood vessel wall and that is at least partly transparent so that light can be delivered and collected by the probe.
(canceled)
(canceled)
A flexible intravascular optical catheter for performing spectroscopic analysis of a blood vessel wall comprising:
- an elongate catheter body having a proximal end and a distal insertion end;
- an optical interrogation section disposed near the distal insertion end, wherein the optical interrogation section comprises at least two probe arms, each probe arm comprising:
- a side-viewing fiber optic probe assemblage comprising:
- at least two optical fibers arranged in a flat linear array wherein each optical fiber has a proximal end and a distal end and the elongate axes of the fibers are at least substantially parallel;
- and at least one beam redirecting element in optical communication with one or more of the optical fibers at the distal end, wherein the at least one beam redirecting element is configured to direct light off-axis with respect to the fibers, wherein the side-viewing fiber optic probe assemblage is disposed in a flexible tube that is radially bowed or bowable outward to contact or near a blood vessel wall and that is at least partly transparent so that light can be delivered and collected by the probe.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.