Excimer laser catheter
First Claim
1. An excimer laser catheter, comprising:
- a catheter shaft containing optical fibers in a concentric arrangement, a tip extending from the catheter shaft and having a diameter that is smaller than that of the catheter shaft, the tip having a length of at least 1 cm and a diameter less than 1 millimeter, each of the optical fibers extending through a full length of the tip and a full length of the catheter shaft, the catheter shaft being configured to be stiffer and less flexible than the tip so as to be pushable to push the tip into a desired site even though the tip negotiates arterial bends to reach the desired site.
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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 a fluence of 60 -mJ/mm2 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.
216 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An excimer laser catheter, comprising:
a catheter shaft containing optical fibers in a concentric arrangement, a tip extending from the catheter shaft and having a diameter that is smaller than that of the catheter shaft, the tip having a length of at least 1 cm and a diameter less than 1 millimeter, each of the optical fibers extending through a full length of the tip and a full length of the catheter shaft, the catheter shaft being configured to be stiffer and less flexible than the tip so as to be pushable to push the tip into a desired site even though the tip negotiates arterial bends to reach the desired site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for providing endovascular therapy, comprising:
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an elongated catheter shaft containing a plurality of optical fibers arranged in at least one row equidistant from a longitudinal axis of the elongated catheter shaft, a tip extending from the elongated catheter shaft, the tip having a length of at least 1 centimeter and a diameter of less than 1 millimeter, the optical fibers extending through a full length of the tip and through a full length of the elongated catheter shaft, the diameter of tip being smaller than a diameter of the elongated catheter shaft, the elongated catheter shaft being configured to be stiffer and less flexible than the tip so as to be pushable to push the tip into a desired site even though the tip negotiates arterial bends to reach the desired site; and
an excimer laser connected to the optical fibers and arranged for delivery of laser energy through the optical fibers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of providing endovascular therapy, comprising the steps of:
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providing an elongated catheter shaft and tip to contain a plurality of optical fibers in at least one row equidistant from a longitudinal axis of the elongated catheter shaft and tip, extending the tip from the elongated catheter shaft, the tip having a length of at least 1 cm and a diameter of less than 1 millimeter, the optical fibers extending through a full length of the tip and through a full length of the elongated catheter shaft, the diameter of the tip being smaller than a diameter of the elongated catheter shaft;
connecting an excimer laser to the optical fibers;
configuring the elongated catheter shaft to be stiffer than the tip to enable pushing of the elongated catheter shaft to move the tip to a desired site even though the tip negotiates arterial bends to reach the desired site; and
delivering energy from the excimer laser through the optical fibers. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification