Apparatus for in vivo imaging of the respiratory tract and other internal organs

• US 6,546,272 B1
• Filed: 06/22/2000
• Issued: 04/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Perceptronix Medical Inc.
• Original Assignee: Calum E. Macaulay, Haishan Zeng, Nicholas B. Mackinnon, Stephen Lam
• Inventors: MacKinnon, Nicholas B., Zeng, Haishan, MacAulay, Calum E., Lam, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Ruth S.
• Application Number:
  US09/602,202
• Time in Patent Office: 1,020 Days
• Field of Search: 600/407, 600/473, 600/476, 600/439, 600/437, 600/466, 600/472, 600/478, 600/160, 600/173, 600/182
• US Class Current: 600/407
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00183 for variable viewing angles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/12 by passing a current through the tissue to be heated, e.g. high-frequency current
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0066 Optical coherence imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0084 for introduction into the body, e.g. by catheters A61B5/1459 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6852 Catheters

Abstract

Apparatus for acquiring in vivo images of a site of interest within the internal organs of a body. The apparatus includes an elongate, flexible catheter. The catheter is introducible into the body and has a first end that remains external to the body and a second and positionable adjacent the site of interest. A movable scanning unit having at least one sensor for acquiring images is housed adjacent the second end of the catheter. There is a drive mechanism to control movement of the movable scanning unit from the first external end of the catheter to acquire multiple images of the site of interest. The drive mechanism has a control element extending the length of the catheter lumen adapted for linear movement within the lumen to generate linear or rotational movement of the scanning unit.

Claims

1. Apparatus for acquiring in vivo images of a site of interest within the internal organs of a body comprising:

an elongate, flexible catheter having a longitudinal axis and a lumen defined by lumen walls extending along a length of the catheter, the catheter being introducible into the body and having a first end that remains external to the body and a second end positionable adjacent the site of interest;

a movable scanning unit having at least one sensor for acquiring images housed adjacent to the second end of the catheter;

communication means extending through the lumen of the catheter from the at least one sensor to communicate a signal from the,sensor to the first end of the catheter;

a drive mechanism to control movement of the movable scanning unit from the first external end of the catheter to acquire at least one image of the site of interest, the drive mechanism having a control element extending the length of the catheter lumen and adapted for linear movement within the lumen.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the drive mechanism causes reciprocal rotational movement of the scanning unit about the longitudinal axis of the catheter.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which the drive mechanism comprises:

a movable sleeve mounted within the lumen proximate the second end of the catheter;

at least one projection and a corresponding helical channel formed on one of the scanning unit and the movable sleeve, the projection of one being slidably retained in the helical channel of the other;

the control element being at least one linear rod extending the lenath of the catheter lumen and connected to the movable sleeve whereby linear movement of the rod and sleeve is converted to rotational movement of the scanning unit about the longitudinal axis of the catheter by movement of the projection in the helical channel.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 including a window at the second end of the catheter for the at least one sensor of the scanning unit to acquire images of the site of interest.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which the helical channels are dimensioned to permit rotation of scanning unit through an angle or about 360/n where n is the number of sensors.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the drive mechanism causes linear movement of The scanning unit along the longitudinal axis of the catheter.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the at least one sensor comprises a linear array of sensors extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the catheter.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the drive mechanism comprises:

at least one flange and a corresponding channel formed on one of the scanning unit and the lumen walls of the catheter, the flange of one being slidably retained in the channel of the other;

the control element being at least one rod extending the length of the catheter lumen and affixed to the scanning unit whereby linear movement of the rod results in movement of the scanning unit as guided by the flanges traveling in the channels.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 including a window at the second end of the catheter for the at least one sensor of the scanning unit to acquire images of the site of interest, the window being of sufficient length to accommodate the linear movement of the scanning unit.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 including a stationary sleeve mounted within the lumen proximate the second end of the catheter and formed with one of the flanges and channels.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the at least one sensor is an optical sensor.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the communication means comprises an optic fibre associated with the optical sensor.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the optical sensor comprises a micro GRIN lens/prism element adapted to obtain optical coherence tomography (OCT) images.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 in which the optical sensor comprises a diffractive lens to focus light to a point of focus adapted to obtain optical coherence microscopy (OCM) images.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 including means to adjust the depth of focus of the optical sensor at the site of interest.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 in which the means to adjust the depth of focus comprises a movable conical protrusion adjacent to the second end of the catheter movable along the longitudinal axis of the catheter to engage and displace the ar least one sensor in a radial direction in relation to the longitudinal axis of the catheter.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the at least one sensor is an ultrasound sensor.

18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17 in which the communication means comprises a wire to carry the signal generated by the ultrasound sensor.

19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including means to maintain the control element in tension within the catheter lumen.

20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including tracking means to monitor the position of the movable scanning unit.

21. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the scanning unit is removable from the lumen of the catheter to permit introduction of a biopsy too through the catheter lumen for sampling at the site of interest.

22. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a window at the second end of the catheter For the at least one sensor of the scanning unit to acquire images of the site o-f interest and an outer sleeve extending over the length of the catheter from the first end to adjacent the window at the second end whereby the catheter is removable from the sleeve and the interior of the sleeve defines a passage to the site of interest for introduction of a biopsy tool.