Phototherapeutic wave guide apparatus

• US 6,953,457 B2
• Filed: 07/22/2002
• Issued: 10/11/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cardiofocus Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cardiofocus Incorporated
• Inventors: Farr, Norman E., Wieler, William E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Farah, A.
• Application Number:
  US10/200,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20020183729A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,177 Days
• Field of Search: 606/3, 606 7- 9, 606 13- 18, 607/88, 607/89, 607 92- 94, 128/898
• US Class Current: 606/15
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/245 for removing obstructions in blood vessels or calculi
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00061 spectrum
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/0097 Cleaning probe surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/2266 with a lens, e.g. ball tipped
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/2272 with reflective or refractive surfaces for deflecting the beam A61B2018/2261, A61B2018/2266 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/065 for measuring contact or contact pressure

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for forming annular lesions in tissue. The methods include introduction of an optical apparatus proximate to a tissue site, via, for example, a catheter. The optical apparatus includes a pattern-forming optical wave guide in communication with a light transmitting optical fiber. Energy is transmitted through the optical fiber, such that radiation is propagated through the optical fiber and the wave guide projects an annular light pattern, e.g., a circle or a halo.

Claims

1. A phototherapeutic apparatus comprising a flexible elongate catheter, adapted for insertion in a heart via a blood vessel, having a lumen housing a light transmitting optical fiber and an optical lens element for projecting an annular pattern of light onto cardiac tissue, such that radiation propagating through said optical fiber is transmitted into the lens element and then projected by the lens element into an annular pattern of phototherapeutic radiation around a pulmonary vein of a heart, wherein the optical fiber is slidably adjustable within the lumen.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said optical lens element comprises a quartz lens.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said optical lens element comprises an acrylic lens.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fiber is capable of transmitting radiation in at least one range of wavelengths between about 200 nanometers and about 2400 nanometers.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said fiber is capable of transmitting infrared radiation.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said fiber is capable of transmitting radiation at a wavelength of about 915 nanometers.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said fiber is capable of transmitting ultraviolet light in at least one range of wavelengths between about 200 nanometers and about 400 nanometers.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus further comprises a graded index lens adjacent to said optical fiber for projecting said light pattern.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said apparatus further comprises a refractive lens adjacent to said optical fiber for projecting said light pattern.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the flexible elongate member is transparent.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, further including an inflatable balloon surrounding a portion of the flexible elongate member.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the inflatable balloon is transparent.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the annular pattern is projected at an angle between about 20 and 45 degrees from a central axis of the optical fiber.