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:
Mar. 20, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 04, 1999
Sorin Adrian, Penn Valley, PA (US);
Other;
Abstract
An acoustic ablation catheter includes a mass cap mounted by a spring at the distal end of the catheter, to thereby form a structure capable of axial motion with a resonant frequency. The mass cap defines an aperture which may be used for a guide wire, for aspiration/infusion, or both. Acoustic motion of the resonant structure is generated by sources of laser light spaced about the distal end of the flexible portion of the catheter body, which produce laser light beams which produce microexplosions adjacent the proximal end of the mass cap. The sources of laser light beams may be laser chips located at the distal end of the body, or they may be the distal ends of optical fibers extending through the body from laser light generators outside the catheter itself. In one advantageous embodiment, relative motion is introduced between the mass cap and the light beams, so that erosion is distributed over a track. At least that portion of the mass cap upon which the laser light pulses impinge is made from titanium.