Combined Diagnostic and Therapeutic Device Using Aligned Energy Beams

Abstract

A device for both providing therapy to a tissue and detecting a characteristic of said tissue is provided. The device includes a deformable tubular body such as a catheter or scope. An electrode is supported by the body and configured to deliver therapeutic energy to the tissue along a first path. The electrode may, for example, be used in cardiac ablation and the therapeutic energy may comprise any common ablation energy modality including radio waves or ultrasound waves. The device further includes an acoustic transducer supported by the body and configured to receive acoustic energy along a second path. The transducer may also transmit acoustic energy. The first and second paths are aligned and may be parallel or overlap, for example. The physical relationship of the electrode and transducer and the alignment of the energy paths eliminates the need to register the spatial coordinates of the therapeutic and diagnostic elements.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.