The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 20, 1994
Filed:
Sep. 18, 1992
James J Sluss, Jr, Norman, OK (US);
James C Duke, Oklahoma City, OK (US);
Kevin R Lewelling, Noble, OK (US);
Shaun L Harris, Allen, TX (US);
The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (US);
Abstract
An optical fiber pressure sensing catheter and a method for using such for detecting a discrete pressure within an organ such as an esophagus. The catheter comprises an elongated hollow body having a wall, a closed proximal end, a closed distal end, and a lumen therebetween. The wall is generally noncompressible by pressure normally exerted thereupon by the organ within which the catheter is inserted except for at least one discrete sensing area of the wall having sufficient flexibility so as to be compressible by pressure exerted thereupon by the organ within which the catheter is inserted. The catheter further comprises at least one sensing optical fiber disposed within the lumen. The optical fiber further comprises a pressure sensing means which is a portion of the optical fiber adjacent the discrete sensing area of the wall. The sensing portion is deformable in response to compression of the discrete sensing area of the wall, which deformation causes attenuation of light transmitted through the fiber. The catheter may further comprise a reference optical fiber disposed within the lumen of the body for use as a comparator with the sensing optical fiber. The catheter may further comprise a positioning assembly disposed within the lumen adjacent the discrete sensing area of the wall for positioning the sensing portion of the sensing optical fiber in a sensing position. The catheter may comprise a plurality of optical fibers and a plurality of discrete sensing areas.