Excimer laser catheter
First Claim
1. An excimer laser catheter, comprising:
- an elongated body containing optical fibers in a concentric arrangement, the body having a tip whose diameter is smaller than a portion of a remainder of the body, the tip having a length of at least 1 cm and a diameter of at most 0.9 mm, the catheter being configured and arranged for being capable of delivering laser energy from an excimer laser through the optical fibers, each of the optical fibers extending through a full length of the tip.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus of providing endovascular therapy. The steps include arranging optical fibers within a catheter, the catheter having a tip whose length is at least 1 cm and whose diameter of less than 1 millimeter, connecting an excimer laser to the optical fibers; and delivering laser energy from the excimer laser in excess of 60 fluence at 40 Hertz through the optical fibers. The delivering of the laser energy may be to non-calcified or calcified deposits of an atherosclerotic lesion to ablate the same. The method also includes the step of inserting the catheter through an artery by pushing the same until the tip is in within laser energy striking distance of the atherosclerotic lesion.
161 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An excimer laser catheter, comprising:
an elongated body containing optical fibers in a concentric arrangement, the body having a tip whose diameter is smaller than a portion of a remainder of the body, the tip having a length of at least 1 cm and a diameter of at most 0.9 mm, the catheter being configured and arranged for being capable of delivering laser energy from an excimer laser through the optical fibers, each of the optical fibers extending through a full length of the tip. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of providing endovascular therapy, comprising the steps of:
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arranging within an elongated catheter a plurality of optical fibers in at least one row equidistant from a longitudinal axis of the elongated catheter, the catheter terminating in a tip whose length is at least 1 cm and a diameter of at most 0.9 mm, the optical fibers extending through a full length of the tip, the diameter of the tip being smaller than a diameter of a portion of a remainder of the catheter;
connecting an excimer laser to the optical fibers; and
delivering laser energy from the excimer laser through the optical fibers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification