Energy Profile Regulating Waveguide, and Laser-Based Medical Apparatus having such Waveguide

A medical device, comprising:

• an optical fiber configured to be inserted, at least partially, into a body of a human;
• wherein the optical fiber is flexible, and has a proximal end that remains outside the body of the human, and a distal end that is controllably movable within the human body by one or more operations of a medical device operator that are selected from the group consisting of:
• pushing, pulling, bending, spinning, turning, flexing;
• wherein the optical fiber is configured to receive, at said proximal end, one or more laser beams that are generated by a laser beam generator that is operably associated with said optical fiber;
• wherein at least one region of the optical fiber includes, at an internal side of said optical fiber, at least one optical element that causes at least a portion of said one or more laser beams to exit the optical fiber via a side-wall of the optical sideways, and causes directional emission of laser energy sideways or perpendicularly to a longest dimension of said optical fiber, instead of through a cap or tip located at a distal end of said optical fiber;
• wherein the medical device is configured to perform an in vivo laser-based medical procedure by emitting laser energy sideways relative to a general direction of propagation of laser energy within the optical fiber;
• wherein the medical device comprises an encapsulation sleeve, that encapsulates at least a segment of the optical fiber,
• wherein said segment of the optical fiber is intended to be inserted into the body of said human;
• wherein the encapsulation sleeve comprises, at said segment, an inflatable balloon chamber,
• that is controllably inflatable in vivo by receiving an inflow of a fluid that causes inflation of said inflatable balloon chamber and thus causes a modification of a distance between (i) an inner wall of the optical fiber and (ii) an in vivo point-of-interest to be medically treated, and in turn causes a modification of a power density of laser-based energy that reaches said in vivo point-of-interest;
• wherein said fluid comprises one or more of:
• a gas, a liquid, a solution, a saline solution, a solution of water and sugar, a solution of water and salt.

A medical device, comprising:

• an optical fiber configured to be inserted, at least partially, into a body of a human;
• wherein the optical fiber is flexible, and has a proximal end that remains outside the body of the human, and a distal end that is controllably movable within the human body by one or more operations of a medical device operator that are selected from the group consisting of:
• pushing, pulling, bending, spinning, turning, flexing;
• wherein the optical fiber is configured to receive, at said proximal end, one or more laser beams that are generated by a laser beam generator that is operably associated with said optical fiber;
• wherein at least one region of the optical fiber includes, at an internal side of said optical fiber, at least one optical element that causes at least a portion of said one or more laser beams to exit the optical fiber via a side-wall of the optical sideways, and causes directional emission of laser energy sideways or perpendicularly to a longest dimension of said optical fiber, instead of through a cap or tip located at a distal end of said optical fiber;
• wherein the medical device is configured to perform an in vivo laser-based medical procedure by emitting laser energy sideways relative to a general direction of propagation of laser energy within the optical fiber;
• wherein the medical device comprises an encapsulation sleeve, that encapsulates at least a segment of the optical fiber,
• wherein said segment of the optical fiber is intended to be inserted into the body of said human;
• wherein the encapsulation sleeve comprises a non-inflatable fluid-holding canal,
• that is configured to receive an inflow of a fluid that causes a modification of a focal point at which two or more laser beams intersect and super-impose after they exit sideways via a wall of said optic fiber and via said fluid-holding canal;
• wherein said fluid comprises one or more of:
• a gas, a liquid, a solution, a saline solution, a solution of water and sugar, a solution of water and salt.

A method of operating a medical device, the method comprising:

• providing an optical fiber that is configured to be inserted, at least partially, into a body of a human;
• wherein the optical fiber is flexible, and has a proximal end that remains outside the body of the human, and a distal end that is controllably movable within the human body by one or more operations of a medical device operator that are selected from the group consisting of:
• pushing, pulling, bending, spinning, turning, flexing;
• providing into the proximal end of said optical fiber, one or more laser beams that are generated by a laser beam generator that is operably associated with said optical fiber;
• via at least one optical element, that is located at an internal side of said optical fiber, performing deflecting and/or refracting of one or more laser beams that propagate through said optical fiber in accordance with a particular laser-energy distribution and emission scheme, and directing at least one laser beam to exit said optical fiber sideways relative to a long axis of said optical fiber through a side-wall of the optical fiber and to provide laser energy to an in-vivo location that is located sideways relative to said optical fiber.