Back to results
US 6,701,181 B2Granted
Multi-path optical catheter
AssigneeInfraReDx, Inc.
InventorsJing Tang, Guillermo J. Tearney, Brett E. Bouma, S. Eric Ryan, Simon Furnish, Andres Zuluaga
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
First and second optical-redirectors mounted on a catheter couple radiation to a target along separate first and second paths. Either the first or second optical-redirectors, or both, can include a steering mechanism for selecting the first and/or second path.
Claims30
An apparatus comprising:
- a conduit having a longitudinal axis extending between a proximal portion and a distal portion;
- a first waveguide for guiding radiation between the proximal portion of the conduit and the distal portion of the conduit;
- a second waveguide for guiding radiation between the proximal portion of the conduit and the distal portion of the conduit;
- a first optical-redirector disposed on an optical path between the first waveguide and a target, the first optical-redirector being oriented to direct radiation along a first path extending between the first waveguide and the target;
- and
- a second optical-redirector disposed on an optical path between the second waveguide and the target, the second optical-redirector being oriented to direct radiation along a second path extending between the second waveguide and the target.
3 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a first optical-redirector mounted on a distal end of a catheter for coupling radiation to a target along a first path extending between the first optical-redirector and the target;
- a second optical-redirector mounted on the distal end of the catheter for coupling radiation to a target along a second path extending between the second optical-redirector and the target.
A method comprising:
- directing illuminating radiation along a first path extending between the catheter and the target, the first path having a radial component orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the catheter;
- and
- collecting re-entrant radiation from the target along a second path extending between the target and the catheter, the second path having a radial component orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the catheter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.