Apparatus and method for vasodilation
AssigneeThe General Hospital Corporation
InventorsRalph De La Torre, Kenton W. Gregory
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for dilating blood vessels in vasospasm through the use of high frequency wave, e.g., hydraulic or acoustic waves. The invention is suitable to treat any vasospasm, including any vasospasm intractable to medication, including cerebral vasospasm, which currently is not susceptible to any mechanical or chemical treatments. The apparatus for dilating blood vessels includes a catheter having a fluid-filled lumen, a wave generator arranged within the catheter lumen for generating a wave front that propagates through the fluid in the lumen and is transmitted from the distal end of the catheter to propagate through the fluid in the blood vessel, and an energy source connected to the wave generator to provide energy to produce the wave front.
Claims31
A method of opening an occluded blood vessel filled with a first fluid, the method comprising the steps of:
- inserting a catheter into the blood vessel, the catheter comprising a lumen containing a second fluid, wherein the first and second fluids can be the same or different, and wherein a distal end of the lumen is covered with a membrane that separates the first and second fluids,
- generating a hydraulic wave front in the second fluid in the lumen,
- propagating the wave front through the second fluid in the lumen,
- transmitting the wave front from the distal end of the lumen and into the vessel by way of the membrane, and
- propagating the transmitted wave front through the first fluid in the blood vessel to open the occluded blood vessel.
A method of opening an occluded blood vessel filled with a first fluid, the method comprising the steps of:
- inserting a catheter into the blood vessel, the catheter comprising a lumen containing a second fluid, wherein the first and second fluids can be the same or different,
- generating a hydraulic wave front in the second fluid in the lumen, wherein the wave front is generated by a non-laser wave generator,
- propagating the wave front through the second fluid in the lumen,
- transmitting said wave front from the distal end of the lumen, and
- propagating the transmitted wave front through the first fluid in the blood vessel to open the occluded blood vessel.
An apparatus for opening an occluded blood vessel filled with a first fluid, comprising:
- a catheter comprising a lumen containing a second fluid, wherein the first and second fluids can be the same or different,
- a wave generator arranged within the lumen for generating a hydraulic wave front that propagates through the second fluid in the lumen and is transmitted from a distal end of the lumen to propagate through the first fluid in the blood vessel, wherein the distal end of the lumen is sealed with a membrane and the wave front is transmitted from the distal end of the lumen via the membrane, and wherein said wave generator is controlled and located a distance from the distal end of the lumen such that no shock wave is propagated in the blood vessel, and
- an energy source connected to the wave generator to provide energy to generate the wave front.
An apparatus for opening an occluded blood vessel filled with a first fluid, comprising:
- a catheter comprising a lumen containing a second fluid, wherein the first and second fluids can be the same or different,
- a non-laser wave generator arranged within the lumen for generating a hydraulic wave front that propagates through the second fluid in the lumen and is transmitted from a distal end of the lumen to propagate through the first fluid in the blood vessel, wherein the wave generator is controlled and located a distance from the distal end of the lumen such that no shock wave is propagated in the blood vessel, and
- an energy source connected to the wave generator to provide energy to produce the wave front.
An apparatus for opening an occluded blood vessel filled with a first fluid, comprising:
- a catheter comprising a lumen containing a second fluid, wherein the first and second fluids can be the same or different,
- a wave generator arranged within the lumen for generating a hydraulic wave front that propagates through the second fluid in the lumen and is transmitted from a distal end of the lumen to propagate through the first fluid in the blood vessel, wherein the distal end of the lumen is sealed with a membrane and said wave front is transmitted from the distal end of the lumen through the membrane, and wherein the wave generator includes an optical fiber having an end terminating within the lumen, and
- a source of electromagnetic radiation operably connected to another end of the optical fiber and having a wavelength that is absorbed by the second fluid in a manner to create a bubble within the lumen that generates the hydraulic wave front.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.