Safety sensor for laser induced pressure wave in contrast media within a containment catheter during vascular therapy

A vascular therapy device, comprising:

• a catheter including at least one optical fiber with a light output aperture;
• a containment sheath having a sheath opening disposed at an end thereof, the catheter disposed inside the containment sheath and movable relative to the containment sheath to extend the light output aperture beyond the sheath opening such that the light output aperture is outside of the containment sheath;
• a proximity sensor configured to detect passage events in which the light output aperture passes through the sheath opening;
• and
• an electronic processor configured to detect whether the light output aperture is in the safe zone based at least on the passage events detected by the proximity sensor.

A vascular therapy device, comprising:

• a catheter including at least one optical fiber with a light output aperture;
• a containment sheath having a sheath opening disposed at an end thereof, the catheter disposed inside the containment sheath and movable relative to the containment sheath to extend the light output aperture beyond the sheath opening such that the light output aperture is outside of the containment sheath;
• and
• a safety sensor configured to detect whether the light output aperture is in a safe zone inside the containment sheath;
• wherein the device is configured to operate in a saline mode in which saline flows through the containment sheath and in a contrast mode in which contrast medium flows through the containment sheath, the device further comprising:
• a device controller configured to automatically turn off a laser operating to inject light into the at least one optical fiber of the catheter in response to a safety interlock condition in which the device is operating in contrast mode and the safety sensor detects that the light output aperture is not in the safe zone inside the containment sheath.