System and method for catheter steering and operation

Abstract

The invention generally relates to intravascular intervention catheters and provides catheters for performing an intravascular procedure that use a computer to control an operation at the end of the catheter. The computer can process image data to determine where the important features are within a patient's vessels. The catheter can include imaging devices, steering devices, ablation mechanisms, or a combination thereof. By referencing the precisely-calculated location of the important features, the computer can provides signals that can be used by a control device (such as a set of servomotors for navigation) to operate the mechanisms at the catheter tip. Thus the catheter can be steered or an ablation mechanism can be operated or be prevented from operating depending on a detected location of the catheter.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.