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US 5,588,432 AGranted
Catheters for imaging, sensing electrical potentials, and ablating tissue
AssigneeBoston Scientific Corporation
InventorRobert J. Crowley
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBoston Scientific Corporation
InventorRobert J. Crowley
Estimating the term…
An acoustic imaging system for use within a heart has a catheter, an ultrasound device incorporated into the catheter, and an electrode mounted on the catheter. The ultrasound device directs ultrasonic signals toward an internal structure in the heart to create an ultrasonic image, and the electrode is arranged for electrical contact with the internal structure. A chemical ablation device mounted on the catheter ablates at least a portion of the internal structure by delivery of fluid to the internal structure. The ablation device includes a material that vibrates in response to electrical excitation, the ablation being at least assisted by vibration of the material. The ablation device may alternatively be a transducer incorporated into the catheter, arranged to convert electrical signals into radiation and to direct the radiation toward the internal structure. The electrode may be a sonolucent structure incorporated into the catheter, through which the ultrasound device is arranged to direct signals. An acoustic marker mounted on the catheter emits a sonic wave when electrically excited. A central processing unit creates a graphical representation of the internal structure, and super-imposes items of data onto the graphical representation at locations that represent the respective plurality of locations within the internal structure corresponding to the plurality of items of data. A display system displays the graphical representation onto which the plurality of items of data are super-imposed.
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
The acoustic imaging system recited in claim 17 wherein the catheter has a needle-shaped tip at the distal end thereof.
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
A method of acoustically imaging a body of a living being, comprising:
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
An acoustic imaging system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
A chemical ablation system for use within a body of a living being, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.