Vascular acoustic emission analysis in a balloon angioplasty system

A system for performing angioplasty treatment on a patient, comprising:

• a catheter for insertion into and through an artery of the patient;
• a mechanical device coupled to said catheter, said mechanical device expandable by fluid passed through said catheter in order to apply pressure to atherosclerotic plaque lesions coupled to vascular tissue of the artery;
• said system including a transducer for sensing acoustic emissions signals generated by said mechanical device causing at least one of (a) deformation, of the plaque lesions, (b) cracking of the plaque lesions, (c) stretching of the vascular tissue and (d) rupture of the vascular tissue;
• and
• computer means for executing a computer program for analyzing said acoustic emissions signals arising solely from the mechanical device expansion causing at least one of (a) deformation of the plaque lesions, (b) cracking of the plaque lesions, (c) stretching of the vascular tissue and (d) rupture of the vascular tissue, said computer program operating on said acoustic emission signals to determine which of the categories (a), (b), (c) and (d) said acoustic emission signals belong.

A method for performing angioplasty treatment on a patient, comprising the steps of:

• inserting a catheter into and through an artery of the patient, said catheter including a balloon positioned in a region of the artery having atherosclerotic plaque lesions coupled to interior walls of the artery;
• inflating said balloon to apply pressure to the plaque lesions causing at least one of (a) deformation of the plaque lesions, (b) cracking of the plaque lesions, (c) stretching of the artery and (d) rupture of the artery and further causing generation of acoustic emission signals arising solely from inflating said balloon to cause at least one of (a) deformation of the plaque lesions, (b) cracking of the plaque lesions, (c) stretching of the artery and (d) rupture of the artery;
• sensing said acoustic emissions signals using sensors;
• outputting said sensed acoustic emission signals to a computer;
• and
• executing computer programs to analyze said acoustic emission signals to carry out analysis of the angioplasty treatment.

A method for performing angioplasty treatment and deploying a stent in an artery of a patient, comprising the steps of:

• inserting a catheter into and through an artery of the patient, said catheter including a balloon and an attached deployable stent positioned in a region of the artery having atherosclerotic plaque lesions coupled to interior walls of the artery;
• inflating said balloon and deploying said stent to be in full apposition to the interior walls of the artery, said balloon applying pressure to the plaque lesions causing at least one of (a) deformation of the plaque lesions, (b) cracking of the plaque lesions, (c) stretching of the artery and (d) rupture of the artery and further causing generation of acoustic emission signals associated with (a) deformation of the plaque lesions, (b) cracking of the plaque lesions, (c) stretching of the vascular tissue of the artery and (d) rupture of vascular tissue of the artery and characterizing position of the stent relative to the walls of the artery;
• sensing said acoustic emission signals using a sensor;
• outputting said sensed acoustic emission signals to a computer;
• and
• executing a computer program using said computer to analyze said acoustic emission signals arising solely from the step of inflating the balloon which causes at least one of (a) deformation of the plaque lesions, (b) cracking of the plaque lesions, (c) stretching of the artery and (d) rupture of the artery to carry out analysis of the balloon angioplasty treatment and to help determine the position of said stent relative to the walls of the artery.