Light delivery catheter
First Claim
1. A light delivery catheter for inserting into a hollow body organ having target tissue and exposing the target tissue to light, the catheter comprising:
- a. an elongated tubular catheter shaft having a proximal end which remains outside of the body organ when in use and a distal end which is inserted into the body organ when in use, the distal end having a light treatment zone through which light can be transmitted;
b. a light guide in the catheter shaft for transmitting light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone;
c. an occlusion balloon positioned on the distal end of the catheter shaft adjacent to the light treatment zone;
d. an inflation lumen in the catheter shaft and in fluid communication with the balloon for delivering fluid from an inflation fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the balloon;
e. an infusion lumen in the catheter shaft for delivering infusion fluid from an infusion fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone; and
f. a plurality of infusion ports formed on the light treatment zone and in fluid communication with the infusion lumen for delivering infusion fluid to the hollow body organ.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides improved light delivery catheters for use in therapeutic methods, such as PDT, that require illumination of target tissue within a blood vessel or other hollow body organ. An improved catheter comprises a catheter shaft having a light treatment zone at its distal end. A light guide, such as an optical fiber, in the catheter shaft transmits light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone. An occlusion balloon is positioned on the distal end of the catheter shaft adjacent to the light treatment zone. An inflation lumen in the catheter shaft, and in fluid communication with the balloon, delivers fluid from an inflation fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the balloon. An infusion lumen in the catheter shaft delivers infusion fluid from an infusion fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone. A plurality of infusion ports formed on the light treatment zone, and in fluid communication with the infusion lumen, deliver infusion fluid to the hollow body organ so that blood can be flushed from region between the light treatment zone and target tissue.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A light delivery catheter for inserting into a hollow body organ having target tissue and exposing the target tissue to light, the catheter comprising:
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a. an elongated tubular catheter shaft having a proximal end which remains outside of the body organ when in use and a distal end which is inserted into the body organ when in use, the distal end having a light treatment zone through which light can be transmitted;
b. a light guide in the catheter shaft for transmitting light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone;
c. an occlusion balloon positioned on the distal end of the catheter shaft adjacent to the light treatment zone;
d. an inflation lumen in the catheter shaft and in fluid communication with the balloon for delivering fluid from an inflation fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the balloon;
e. an infusion lumen in the catheter shaft for delivering infusion fluid from an infusion fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone; and
f. a plurality of infusion ports formed on the light treatment zone and in fluid communication with the infusion lumen for delivering infusion fluid to the hollow body organ. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A light delivery catheter for inserting into a blood vessel having a vascular wall and exposing the vascular wall to light, the catheter comprising:
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a. an elongated tubular catheter shaft having a proximal end which remains outside of the blood vessel when in use and a distal end which is inserted into the blood vessel when in use, the distal end having a light treatment zone through which light can be transmitted;
b. an optical fiber in the catheter shaft for delivering light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone, the optical fiber having a distal end terminating in a diffuser within the light treatment zone;
c. an occlusion balloon positioned on the distal end of the catheter shaft proximal to the light treatment zone;
d. an inflation lumen in the catheter shaft and in fluid communication with the occlusion balloon for delivering fluid from an inflation fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to inflate the balloon;
e. an infusion lumen in the catheter shaft for delivering infusion fluid from an infusion fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the blood vessel; and
f. a plurality of infusion ports formed in the catheter shaft and infusion lumen through which infusion fluid can be delivered into the blood vessel, wherein the plurality of infusion ports are radially distributed about the circumference of the light treatment zone and longitudinally distributed along the length of the light treatment zone.
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28. A light delivery catheter for inserting into a hollow body organ having target tissue and exposing the target tissue to light, the catheter comprising:
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a. an elongated tubular catheter shaft having a proximal end which remains outside of the body organ when in use and a distal end which is inserted into the body organ when in use, the distal end having a light treatment zone through which light can be transmitted;
b. a light delivery optical fiber in the catheter shaft for delivering light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone, the optical fiber having a distal end terminating in the light treatment zone; and
c. a light detection optical fiber in the catheter shaft for detecting light emitted by the light delivery optical fiber and transmitting the detected light to the proximal end of the catheter shaft, the light detection optical fiber having a distal end terminating in the light treatment zone. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35)
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34. A light delivery catheter for inserting into a hollow body organ having target tissue and exposing the target tissue to light, the catheter comprising:
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a. an elongated tubular catheter shaft having a proximal end which remains outside of the body organ when in use and a distal end which is inserted into the body organ when in use, the distal end having a light treatment zone through which light can be transmitted;
b. an optical fiber in the catheter shaft for delivering light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone, the optical fiber having a distal end terminating the light treatment zone; and
c. a fluorescent material incorporated into the distal end of the catheter shaft to provide a fluorescent emission when exposed to light emitted from the optical fiber, whereby the fluorescent emission can propagate back to the proximal end of the optical fiber to allow monitoring of light delivery. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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37. A light delivery catheter for inserting into a hollow body organ having target tissue and exposing the target tissue to light, the catheter comprising:
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a. an elongated tubular catheter shaft having a proximal end which remains outside of the body organ when in use and a distal end which is inserted into the body organ when in use, the distal end having a light treatment zone through which light can be transmitted, the catheter shaft having a variable diameter which forms a narrowing transition portion adjacent to the light treatment zone, the transition portion reducing the diameter of the catheter shaft along the light treatment zone;
b. a light guide in the catheter shaft for transmitting light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone;
c. an infusion lumen in the catheter shaft for delivering infusion fluid from an infusion fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the hollow body organ, the infusion lumen having a variable diameter, wherein the diameter of the infusion lumen decreases at the transition portion of the catheter shaft; and
d. one or more infusion ports formed in the catheter shaft and in fluid communication with the infusion lumen through which infusion fluid can be delivered into the hollow body organ.
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38. A light delivery catheter for inserting into a hollow body organ having target tissue and exposing the target tissue to light, the catheter comprising:
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a. an elongated tubular catheter shaft having a proximal end which remains outside of the body organ when in use and a distal end which is inserted into the body organ when in use, the distal end having a light treatment zone through which light can be transmitted, the catheter shaft having a variable diameter which forms a narrowing transition portion adjacent to the light treatment zone, the transition portion reducing the diameter of the catheter shaft along the light treatment zone;
b. a light guide in the catheter shaft for transmitting light from a light source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the light treatment zone;
c. an infusion lumen in the catheter shaft for delivering infusion fluid from an infusion fluid source at the proximal end of the catheter shaft to the hollow body organ, the infusion lumen terminating a the transition portion of the catheter shaft; and
d. one or more infusion ports formed on or near the transition portion of the catheter shaft and in fluid communication with the infusion lumen through which infusion fluid can be delivered into the hollow body organ. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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Specification