Wall-Contacting Intravascular Ultrasound Probe Catheters
AssigneePrescient Medical, Inc.
InventorEduardo Ignacio Cespedes
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides intravascular diagnostic catheters that include one or more wall-contacting/wall-approaching probes including IVUS probe elements and diagnostic systems including such catheters, for the evaluation and diagnosis of blood vessels. Also provided are intravascular catheters in which the wall-contacting/wall-approaching probes further include an optical probe element and systems including such catheters, for combined IVUS and optical analysis of a blood vessel wall.
Claims24
An intravascular diagnostic catheter, comprising:
- a proximal end and a distal insertion end;
- and
- a basket section disposed at or near the distal insertion end, said basket section comprising at least two radially extendable wall-approaching probe arms each including a wall-approaching portion,
- wherein each of at least two of the probe arms comprises a laterally-viewing ultrasound transducer within or near the wall-approaching portion of the probe arm.
An intravascular diagnostic catheter, comprising:
- a proximal end and a distal insertion end;
- and
- a basket section disposed at or near the distal insertion end, said basket section comprising at least two radially extendable wall-approaching probe arms each including a wall-approaching portion,
- wherein each of at least two of the probe arms comprises a laterally-viewing high-frequency ultrasound transducer within or near the wall-approaching portion of the probe arm and a laterally-viewing optical element within or near the wall-approaching portion of the probe arm.
An intravascular diagnostic catheter, comprising:
- a proximal end and a distal insertion end;
- and
- at least one radially extendable probe arm disposed at or near the distal insertion end including a wall-approaching portion,
- wherein the at least one radially extendable probe arm comprises a high-frequency ultrasound transducer within or near the wall-approaching portion of the probe arm and an optical probe element within or near the wall-approaching portion of the probe arm.
A method for evaluating the wall of a blood vessel, comprising the steps of:
- providing an intravascular catheter including at least one radially extendable wall-approaching probe arm including an IVUS element;
- disposing the wall-approaching probe element of the catheter in a blood vessel;
- and
- taking ultrasound readings of the vessel wall at one or more locations in the blood vessel using the IVUS element.
A method for evaluating the wall of a blood vessel, comprising the steps of:
- providing an intravascular catheter including at least one radially extendable wall-approaching probe arm including a side-viewing IVUS element and a side-viewing optical probe element;
- disposing the probe arm in a blood vessel;
- and
- taking both ultrasound readings and optical analytical readings of the vessel wall at one or more locations in the blood vessel via the at least one probe arm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.