Intravascular mechanical shape and stiffness sensor
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorsRene Leonardus Jacobus Marie UBACHS, Leili SALEHI, Vipul Shrihari PAI RAIKAR, Alyssa TORJESEN, Bernardus Hendrikus Wilhelmus HENDRIKS
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Abstract
A device for intravascular assessment includes a catheter (12) configured for insertion into a blood vessel (V); a plurality of feelers (14) extending circumferentially outward around a distal end of the catheter and configured to press against a wall of the blood vessel in which the catheter is inserted; and a sensor (16) configured to acquire data on at least one of: a shape formed by the feelers pressing against the wall of the blood vessel and a force applied by the feelers pressing against the wall of the blood vessel.
Claims20
A device for intravascular assessment, the device comprising:
- a catheter configured for insertion into a blood vessel
- a plurality of feelers extending circumferentially outward around a distal end of the catheter and configured to press against a wall of the blood vessel that the catheter is inserted;
- and
- a sensor configured to acquire data on at least one of:
- (i) a shape formed by the feelers pressing against the wall of the blood vessel and (ii) a force applied by the feelers pressing against the wall of the blood vessel.
A method of characterizing a wall of a blood vessel, the method comprising:
- at least partially withdrawing a catheter inserted into a blood vessel, the catheter having a plurality of feelers extending circumferentially outward around a distal end of the catheter and pressing against the wall of the blood vessel during the withdrawing;
- during the withdrawing, acquiring at least one of data on a shape of the feelers and data on a force applied by the feelers pressing against the wall of the blood vessel;
- and
- determining at least one of:
- a shape of the wall of the blood vessel and a stiffness of the wall of the blood vessel based on the acquired data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.