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Excimer laser angioplasty system

  • US 5,989,243 A
  • Filed: 12/15/1992
  • Issued: 11/23/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/07/1984
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An angioplasty system, comprising:

  • an elongated catheter that is adapted to fit within a human blood vessel, said catheter having a proximal end, a distal end and a longitudinal lumen that is open to said distal end for receiving a guidewire;

    a plurality of fiber-optic waveguides in said catheter each having an energy-conducting core made of synthetic silica that is substantially free of metallic impurities, and extending to said distal end for emitting energy conducted therethrough in a direction generally forwardly of said distal end of said catheter; and

    a pulsed XeCl Excimer laser having an output wavelength of about 308 nm, with each pulse having a duration between 100 nsec and 3000 nsec and being coupled into a proximal end of said fiber-optic waveguides at a density of at least 50 mJ/mm2 to ablate atherosclerotic plaque in a blood vessel.

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