WO1990013253A1 - An intra-arterial device - Google Patents

An intra-arterial device Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1990013253A1
WO1990013253A1 PCT/NL1990/000057 NL9000057W WO9013253A1 WO 1990013253 A1 WO1990013253 A1 WO 1990013253A1 NL 9000057 W NL9000057 W NL 9000057W WO 9013253 A1 WO9013253 A1 WO 9013253A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
tip
catheter
fibre
intra
arterial device
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/NL1990/000057
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Johannes Mattheus Jongeling
Charles Theodoor Lancee
Original Assignee
Du-Med B.V.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Du-Med B.V. filed Critical Du-Med B.V.
Publication of WO1990013253A1 publication Critical patent/WO1990013253A1/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10K—SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICES; METHODS OR DEVICES FOR PROTECTING AGAINST, OR FOR DAMPING, NOISE OR OTHER ACOUSTIC WAVES IN GENERAL; ACOUSTICS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G10K11/00—Methods or devices for transmitting, conducting or directing sound in general; Methods or devices for protecting against, or for damping, noise or other acoustic waves in general
    • G10K11/18—Methods or devices for transmitting, conducting or directing sound
    • G10K11/26—Sound-focusing or directing, e.g. scanning
    • G10K11/35—Sound-focusing or directing, e.g. scanning using mechanical steering of transducers or their beams
    • G10K11/352—Sound-focusing or directing, e.g. scanning using mechanical steering of transducers or their beams by moving the transducer
    • G10K11/355—Arcuate movement
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
    • A61B1/00163—Optical arrangements
    • A61B1/00165—Optical arrangements with light-conductive means, e.g. fibre optics
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/12—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4444—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
    • A61B8/445—Details of catheter construction
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4444—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
    • A61B8/4461—Features of the scanning mechanism, e.g. for moving the transducer within the housing of the probe
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01D—MEASURING NOT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR A SPECIFIC VARIABLE; ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEASURING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES NOT COVERED IN A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; TARIFF METERING APPARATUS; MEASURING OR TESTING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G01D5/00—Mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member; Means for converting the output of a sensing member to another variable where the form or nature of the sensing member does not constrain the means for converting; Transducers not specially adapted for a specific variable
    • G01D5/26—Mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member; Means for converting the output of a sensing member to another variable where the form or nature of the sensing member does not constrain the means for converting; Transducers not specially adapted for a specific variable characterised by optical transfer means, i.e. using infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light
    • G01D5/32—Mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member; Means for converting the output of a sensing member to another variable where the form or nature of the sensing member does not constrain the means for converting; Transducers not specially adapted for a specific variable characterised by optical transfer means, i.e. using infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light with attenuation or whole or partial obturation of beams of light
    • G01D5/34—Mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member; Means for converting the output of a sensing member to another variable where the form or nature of the sensing member does not constrain the means for converting; Transducers not specially adapted for a specific variable characterised by optical transfer means, i.e. using infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light with attenuation or whole or partial obturation of beams of light the beams of light being detected by photocells
    • G01D5/347—Mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member; Means for converting the output of a sensing member to another variable where the form or nature of the sensing member does not constrain the means for converting; Transducers not specially adapted for a specific variable characterised by optical transfer means, i.e. using infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light with attenuation or whole or partial obturation of beams of light the beams of light being detected by photocells using displacement encoding scales
    • G01D5/34707—Scales; Discs, e.g. fixation, fabrication, compensation
    • G01D5/34715—Scale reading or illumination devices
    • G01D5/34723—Scale reading or illumination devices involving light-guides

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an intra-arterial device for the examination or treatment of blood vessels, comprising a catheter having at an end to be inserted into an artery a tip which is movable relative to the rest of the catheter, and further comprising means for causing said tip to rotate at a desired speed relative to the catheter and relative to operating means and control appartus at or near the control end of the catheter.
  • Such a device is known from Dutch patent application No. 8700632.
  • the fixed part of the catheter adjacent to the rotatable tip is provided with a transducer and the tip is provided with a mirror in slanting position relative to the transducer (Fig.3) .
  • Fig.3 a mirror in slanting position relative to the transducer
  • the tip is usually rotated by means of a drive motor positioned at the control end of the catheter, which motor is connected to the tip through a flexible shaft extending through the catheter.
  • the shaft must be flexible because the catheter, when in operation, is inserted into the artery system of a patient to be examined and must be able to follow all the bends and curves of that system. A problem arises here in that the exact position of the catheter tip is no longer known. Even with a flexible shaft which has been designed with as much stiffness in torsion as possible, the possibility exists that some torsion occurs along the entire length of the shaft, so that the position of the shaft at the motor end does not provide accurate information on the position of the tip at the other end of the shaft.
  • the invention aims to provide a device in which the above problem of the accurate location is solved.
  • This aim is achieved with a device in which an optical fibre is incorporated into or connected with the catheter, which fibre extends up to the vicinity of the rotatable tip or rotatable part, and adjacent to or in that tip or part marking means are provided, which can be observed through the optical fibre at the control end of the catheter, either the fibre or the marking means being arranged to move along with the rotatable tip or rotatable part.
  • the exact position, or at least the angular position of the rotating part relative to the non-rotating part of the catheter end can be determined at any moment. If, in computer processing of the echo signals of the transducer, the information concerned is also fed to the computer, the computer can always picture each signal in the correct place, so that always a true image is formed.
  • the optical fibre is incorporated in the means for causing the tip of the catheter to rotate, so that the end of the fibre adjacent to the tip rotates along with the tip, the marking means being fixed on, or forming part of, a fixed section of the catheter adjacent to the tip.
  • the marking means are preferably formed by a substantially disc-shaped or ring-shaped body with a surface which is virtually perpendicular to the shaft of the catheter at that point, opposite which surface is the end of the fibre, in which the body rotates when the fibre is stationary and the other way round, so that when the tip rotates the fibre end describes a circular movement along the surface and in which markings have been applied to the surface in the path described thereon by the fibre tip.
  • the markings consist of a number of circularly arranged reflecting segments positioned at regular intervals.
  • an irregularity is provided in a suitable place in the series of regularly arranged segments.
  • Such an irregularity may consist of the absence of a segment in the suitable place. This absent segment then serves as a point of reference in the circular path.
  • the irregularity consists of a different shape of the segment at that point, compared to the shape of the other segments .
  • Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the end of the catheter with a rotatable tip in one embodiment of the device according to the invention.
  • Fig. 2 is an illustration of a suitable system of markings for use in the device according to Fig. 1.
  • Fig. 1 schematically shows a cross-section of the end of the catheter in an embodiment of the device according to the invention.
  • Catheter tube 1 is sealed at that end with an end cap 2 made of a suitable material.
  • the material of end cap 2 should be permeable to the ultrasonorous radiation from the transducer at the end of the catheter, and obviously also to the echoes to be received by the transducer.
  • Extending through catheter tube 1 is a flexible, rotatable shaft 3, which is or can be connected at the other end of the catheter (not shown) to a drive motor to cause shaft 3 to rotate in catheter tube 1.
  • rotatable shaft 3 are also incorporated suitable electrical wires to feed the transducer in the catheter tip and to carry the signals back from the transducer to the processing means at the other end of the catheter.
  • Adjacent to the end of catheter tube 1 a disc 5 is installed in it, which is directed perpendicularly to the shaft of tube 1.
  • Disc 5 is fixed to catheter tube 1.
  • the rotatable shaft 3 terminates a certain distance short of disc 5.
  • Secured to the end of shaft 3 is a flange which is connected to a bushing 6.
  • Bushing 6 has an outside diameter slightly smaller than the inside diamter of catheter tube 1, so that bushing 6 can rotate smoothly within tube 1.
  • the reduced section 8 of cylinder 7, extends through a central opening in the fixed disc 5.
  • the dimensions of the several parts are, for instance, such that section 8 of cylinder 7 is journalled ⁇ as it were, in the opening in disc 5.
  • a holder 9 for transducer 10 Secured to the reduced section 8 of cylinder 7, beyond the opening in disc 5, is a holder 9 for transducer 10. Electrical wires and signal wires 11 and 12 leading to the front electrode surface and the back electrode surface, respectively, of the ceramic transducer plate of transducer 10 extend through the throughbore in body 7 and the clearance in bushing 6 to the front end of the rotatable shaft 3, through which shaft 3 they are passed further through the catheter. At the front end of the rotatable shaft 3 the optical fibre 4 is passed laterally away from the centre of the shaft and deflects to terminate, through a suitable throughbore through a section of cylinder 7 which is adjacent to the outer circumference of cylinder 7, on the outside of the reduced part 8 just in front of one of the main surfaces of disc 5.
  • the catheter tip made up of parts 6 to 10 rotates along with the rotatable shaft 3, since those parts are fixedly secured to shaft 3.
  • the end face of the laterally deflected optical fibre 4 thus describes a circular path along the opposed surface of fixed disc 5.
  • suitable markings are provided on the surface of disc 5. These markings can be detected through the optical fibre . Since the optical fibre is fixedly secured to the rotary tip at the catheter end, in this way the position of the catheter tip can be connected unambiguously to the position of the fixed catheter tube 1. In this way the position of the transducer relative to the fixed catheter tube end is always known.
  • the markings on the fixed disc 5 can, for instance, be detected by shining light on them through the optical fibre 4 and passing the reflected light through the fibre to the other end of the catheter, where suitable processing means can be provided. If the processing means comprise a computer, the marking signals can be connected therein, by means of software which can simply be designed by one skilled in the art, to the echo signals from the transducer. In this way a true image of the surroundings of the catheter tip can be formed which is not distorted by unobserved torsional or frictional decelerations and/or accelerations of the catheter tip.
  • Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the fixed disc 5 at the end of the catheter tube 1, viewed from the side where the front face of the optical fibre 4 is located.
  • a system of markings 13 is provided, which are arranged in a circular path.
  • the system of markings comprises, for instance, a series of reflecting segments 13 which are arranged at regular intervals from each other in a circle. The area between each pair of successive segments is not reflecting. If light is directed to the circular path through the optical fibre 4 moving along the circle of segments 13, consecutive reflection signals will be received through the fibre. At one point in the circular path a segment has been left out. This lacking segment 14 causes an interruption in the regular series of reflection signals and can therefore serve as a point of reference. In this way the location of the end of the optical fibre and hence the position of the rotary tip of the catheter relative to the fixed disc and thus the fixed catheter tube can be determined at any time.
  • the reflecting segments 13 can be made in any way desired.
  • the ring of segments can be formed by optically etching a chromium layer formed on the glass disc, according to the desired pattern. It is also possible to fix optically reflecting nickle segments on a layer of polyimide on disc 5 or on a disc 5 made of polyimide.
  • disc 5 had a diameter of 1.255 mm, with a central opening of 0.5 mm. Segments 13 each had a height of 0.1 mm, and the number of segments in a circular path on the disc was 99.
  • the rotary tip of the catheter was surrounded by an end cap 2 with a length of 6 mm and a diameter of 1.67 mm, and the catheter tube had a diameter of 1.3 mm.

Abstract

An intra-arterial device comprising a catheter having at an end to be inserted into an artery a tip or part (7-10) which is movable relative to the rest of the catheter, and comprising means (3) for causing said part or tip to rotate at a desired speed relative to the catheter and relative to operating means and control apparatus at or near the control end of the catheter, an optical fibre (4) being provided in or connected with the catheter, which fibre extends up to the vicinity of said rotatable tip or part, and adjacent to or in the tip or part marking means (5) being provided, which can be observed through the optical fibre at the control end of the catheter, either the fibre (4) or the marking means (5) being arranged to move along with the rotatable tip or part.

Description

Title: An intra-arterial device
The invention relates to an intra-arterial device for the examination or treatment of blood vessels, comprising a catheter having at an end to be inserted into an artery a tip which is movable relative to the rest of the catheter, and further comprising means for causing said tip to rotate at a desired speed relative to the catheter and relative to operating means and control appartus at or near the control end of the catheter.
Such a device is known from Dutch patent application No. 8700632. In the known device the fixed part of the catheter adjacent to the rotatable tip is provided with a transducer and the tip is provided with a mirror in slanting position relative to the transducer (Fig.3) . Through the rotation of the tip with the mirror high-frequency ultrasonorous vibrations emitted by the transducer are emitted in various directions along a rotating path and the echoes are received in a similar way, so that a picture of a section of the area around the catheter tip can be formed.
Obviously it is possible to provide the rotating catheter tip with the transducer, in which case a mirror is not required. The above publication already shows a rotating transducer, although it is positioned just behind the otherwise stationary tip of the catheter (Fig. 2) .
The tip is usually rotated by means of a drive motor positioned at the control end of the catheter, which motor is connected to the tip through a flexible shaft extending through the catheter. The shaft must be flexible because the catheter, when in operation, is inserted into the artery system of a patient to be examined and must be able to follow all the bends and curves of that system. A problem arises here in that the exact position of the catheter tip is no longer known. Even with a flexible shaft which has been designed with as much stiffness in torsion as possible, the possibility exists that some torsion occurs along the entire length of the shaft, so that the position of the shaft at the motor end does not provide accurate information on the position of the tip at the other end of the shaft.
Furthermore, disturbances in the rotation behaviour of the tip may occur as a result of, for example, friction occurring in the catheter tube or the tip bearing. The result of all this is that in processing the echo signals from the tip of the vibrations emitted by the transducer, which processing is usually done by computer, a signal cannot be attributed accurately to a particular location, so that an inaccurate or even distorted picture is formed of the area around the tip. In fact, the effect of the above phenomena on a display picture will be that within a circle of 360° the sound bundles travel "too fast" around the circumference in one sector and too slowly" somewhat further on. This will certainly give a distorted picture, which can be problematic, especially for certain uses of the device, such as its use in removing obstructions in the artery by means of spark erosion. In that application it is of major importance that the spark erosion is performed at the position of the obstruction. For this purpose this position should be known exactly. Furthermore, a distorted picture is problematic for a correct diagnostic interpretation of the pictures . The invention aims to provide a device in which the above problem of the accurate location is solved. This aim is achieved with a device in which an optical fibre is incorporated into or connected with the catheter, which fibre extends up to the vicinity of the rotatable tip or rotatable part, and adjacent to or in that tip or part marking means are provided, which can be observed through the optical fibre at the control end of the catheter, either the fibre or the marking means being arranged to move along with the rotatable tip or rotatable part. In this way, according to the invention, the exact position, or at least the angular position of the rotating part relative to the non-rotating part of the catheter end can be determined at any moment. If, in computer processing of the echo signals of the transducer, the information concerned is also fed to the computer, the computer can always picture each signal in the correct place, so that always a true image is formed.
In a suitable embodiment of the device according to the invention the optical fibre is incorporated in the means for causing the tip of the catheter to rotate, so that the end of the fibre adjacent to the tip rotates along with the tip, the marking means being fixed on, or forming part of, a fixed section of the catheter adjacent to the tip. Regardless of whether the fibre rotates and the marking means are stationary, or whether the fibre is stationary and the marking means are connected to the rotating tip, according to the invention the marking means are preferably formed by a substantially disc-shaped or ring-shaped body with a surface which is virtually perpendicular to the shaft of the catheter at that point, opposite which surface is the end of the fibre, in which the body rotates when the fibre is stationary and the other way round, so that when the tip rotates the fibre end describes a circular movement along the surface and in which markings have been applied to the surface in the path described thereon by the fibre tip. Suitably, in that embodiment the markings consist of a number of circularly arranged reflecting segments positioned at regular intervals. For a correct location it is desirable that in a suitable place in the series of regularly arranged segments an irregularity is provided. Such an irregularity may consist of the absence of a segment in the suitable place. This absent segment then serves as a point of reference in the circular path. Of course it is also possible that the irregularity consists of a different shape of the segment at that point, compared to the shape of the other segments .
It has to be noted that a device for examination of cavities by means of ultrasound, comprising an optical fibre in combination with marking means, is known per se from French Patent Application No. 2,467,583. Said known device, however, is of the endoscope type, to be used for examination of intestines and like larger cavities. Therefore it is rather heavy and cannot be used as an intra-arterial device .
The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the end of the catheter with a rotatable tip in one embodiment of the device according to the invention; and
Fig. 2 is an illustration of a suitable system of markings for use in the device according to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 schematically shows a cross-section of the end of the catheter in an embodiment of the device according to the invention. Catheter tube 1 is sealed at that end with an end cap 2 made of a suitable material. The material of end cap 2 should be permeable to the ultrasonorous radiation from the transducer at the end of the catheter, and obviously also to the echoes to be received by the transducer. Extending through catheter tube 1 is a flexible, rotatable shaft 3, which is or can be connected at the other end of the catheter (not shown) to a drive motor to cause shaft 3 to rotate in catheter tube 1. Extending in the centre of shaft 3, whose structure, for that matter, is irrelevant to the present invention, is an optical fibre 4. In the flexible, rotatable shaft 3 are also incorporated suitable electrical wires to feed the transducer in the catheter tip and to carry the signals back from the transducer to the processing means at the other end of the catheter. Adjacent to the end of catheter tube 1 a disc 5 is installed in it, which is directed perpendicularly to the shaft of tube 1. Disc 5 is fixed to catheter tube 1. The rotatable shaft 3 terminates a certain distance short of disc 5. Secured to the end of shaft 3 is a flange which is connected to a bushing 6. Bushing 6 has an outside diameter slightly smaller than the inside diamter of catheter tube 1, so that bushing 6 can rotate smoothly within tube 1. In the front end of bushing 6 is fixed a cylindrical body 7 with a reduced section 8, which body 7,8 is provided with a central throughbore. The reduced section 8 of cylinder 7, extends through a central opening in the fixed disc 5. The dimensions of the several parts are, for instance, such that section 8 of cylinder 7 is journalledΛ as it were, in the opening in disc 5.
Secured to the reduced section 8 of cylinder 7, beyond the opening in disc 5, is a holder 9 for transducer 10. Electrical wires and signal wires 11 and 12 leading to the front electrode surface and the back electrode surface, respectively, of the ceramic transducer plate of transducer 10 extend through the throughbore in body 7 and the clearance in bushing 6 to the front end of the rotatable shaft 3, through which shaft 3 they are passed further through the catheter. At the front end of the rotatable shaft 3 the optical fibre 4 is passed laterally away from the centre of the shaft and deflects to terminate, through a suitable throughbore through a section of cylinder 7 which is adjacent to the outer circumference of cylinder 7, on the outside of the reduced part 8 just in front of one of the main surfaces of disc 5. When in operation, the catheter tip made up of parts 6 to 10 rotates along with the rotatable shaft 3, since those parts are fixedly secured to shaft 3. The end face of the laterally deflected optical fibre 4 thus describes a circular path along the opposed surface of fixed disc 5. In this path suitable markings are provided on the surface of disc 5. These markings can be detected through the optical fibre . Since the optical fibre is fixedly secured to the rotary tip at the catheter end, in this way the position of the catheter tip can be connected unambiguously to the position of the fixed catheter tube 1. In this way the position of the transducer relative to the fixed catheter tube end is always known. The markings on the fixed disc 5 can, for instance, be detected by shining light on them through the optical fibre 4 and passing the reflected light through the fibre to the other end of the catheter, where suitable processing means can be provided. If the processing means comprise a computer, the marking signals can be connected therein, by means of software which can simply be designed by one skilled in the art, to the echo signals from the transducer. In this way a true image of the surroundings of the catheter tip can be formed which is not distorted by unobserved torsional or frictional decelerations and/or accelerations of the catheter tip.
Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the fixed disc 5 at the end of the catheter tube 1, viewed from the side where the front face of the optical fibre 4 is located. On disc 5 a system of markings 13 is provided, which are arranged in a circular path. The system of markings comprises, for instance, a series of reflecting segments 13 which are arranged at regular intervals from each other in a circle. The area between each pair of successive segments is not reflecting. If light is directed to the circular path through the optical fibre 4 moving along the circle of segments 13, consecutive reflection signals will be received through the fibre. At one point in the circular path a segment has been left out. This lacking segment 14 causes an interruption in the regular series of reflection signals and can therefore serve as a point of reference. In this way the location of the end of the optical fibre and hence the position of the rotary tip of the catheter relative to the fixed disc and thus the fixed catheter tube can be determined at any time.
The reflecting segments 13 can be made in any way desired. When the fixed disc is made of glass the ring of segments can be formed by optically etching a chromium layer formed on the glass disc, according to the desired pattern. It is also possible to fix optically reflecting nickle segments on a layer of polyimide on disc 5 or on a disc 5 made of polyimide.
It will be clear that it does not make any difference for a correct location whether disc 5 is fixed relative to the catheter tube and the optical fibre rotates along with the tip, or whether the fibre is fixedly arranged in the catheter tube and the markings rotate along with the tip. The construction described above, however, is preferred for its compact structure.
To give an impression of the dimensions of the device according to the invention it can be observed that in an embodiment realised in practice disc 5 had a diameter of 1.255 mm, with a central opening of 0.5 mm. Segments 13 each had a height of 0.1 mm, and the number of segments in a circular path on the disc was 99. The rotary tip of the catheter was surrounded by an end cap 2 with a length of 6 mm and a diameter of 1.67 mm, and the catheter tube had a diameter of 1.3 mm.
It will further be clear that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. It is, for example, possible to realise the marking by using a cylindrical body adjacent to the end of the catheter, which body rotates along with the rotary part, and is provided with suitable code segments on its inside surface. In that case the markings extend virtually parallel to the longitudinal axis of the catheter, and the optical fibre should then be positioned in such a way that the end for observing the markings is directed radially, unless a suitable mirror or prism is positioned between the fibre end and the markings.

Claims

1. An intra-arterial device for the examination or treatment of, for example, blood vessels, comprising a catheter having at an end to be inserted into an artery a tip or part which is movable relative to the rest of the catheter, and further comprising means for causing said part or tip to rotate at a desired speed relative to the catheter and relative to operating means and control apparatus at or near the control end of the catheter, characterized in that an optical fibre is provided in or connected with the catheter, which fibre extends up to the vicinity of said rotatable tip or part, and adjacent to or in the tip or part marking means are provided, which can be observed through the optical fibre at the control end of the catheter, either the fibre or the marking means being arranged to move along with the rotatable tip or part.
2. An intra-arterial device according to claim 1, characterized in that the optical fibre is incorporated in the means for causing the tip to rotate, so that the end of the fibre adjacent to the tip rotates along with the tip, the marking means being fixed on, or forming part of, a fixed section of the catheter adjacent to the tip.
3. An intra-arterial device according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the marking means are formed by a substantially disc-shaped or ring-shaped body with a surface which is virtually perpendicular to the shaft of the catheter at that point, the end of the fibre being positioned opposite said surface, in which the body rotates when the fibre is stationary and the other way round, so that when the tip rotates the fibre end describes a circular movement along the surface, and in which markings have been applied to the surface in the path described thereon by the fibre tip.
4. An intra-arterial device according to claim 3, characterized in that the markings consist of a number of circularly arranged reflecting segments positioned at regular intervals .
5. An intra-arterial device according to claim 4, characterized in that in a suitable place in the series of regularly arranged segments an irregularity is provided.
6. An intra-arterial device according to claim 5, characterized in that the irregularity consists of the absence of a segment in the suitable place.
PCT/NL1990/000057 1989-04-28 1990-04-26 An intra-arterial device WO1990013253A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL8901084A NL8901084A (en) 1989-04-28 1989-04-28 INTRA-LUMINAL DEVICE.
NL8901084 1989-04-28

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1990013253A1 true WO1990013253A1 (en) 1990-11-15

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WO (1) WO1990013253A1 (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19922056A1 (en) * 1999-05-14 2000-11-23 Heinz Lehr Medical instrument for internal examinations using ultrasonic or electromagnetic transducers, has drive connected to transducer at remote end of instrument so that it can be rotated
US6949072B2 (en) * 2003-09-22 2005-09-27 Infraredx, Inc. Devices for vulnerable plaque detection
US7450241B2 (en) 2005-09-30 2008-11-11 Infraredx, Inc. Detecting vulnerable plaque
CN109068995A (en) * 2016-02-26 2018-12-21 新宁研究院 Image probe with rotatable core

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DE2948182A1 (en) * 1978-12-21 1980-07-10 Hewlett Packard Co TURN DETECTOR
FR2467583A1 (en) * 1979-10-24 1981-04-30 Olympus Optical Co ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE FOR A COELIAC CAVITY
GB2082769A (en) * 1980-06-24 1982-03-10 Olympus Optical Co Improvements in Ultrasonic Diagnosis Systems
NL8700632A (en) * 1987-03-17 1988-10-17 Stichting Biomedical Engineeri Medical spark erosion catheter - removes blockages in blood vessels using ultrasonic transducer to aid accurate placement

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2948182A1 (en) * 1978-12-21 1980-07-10 Hewlett Packard Co TURN DETECTOR
FR2467583A1 (en) * 1979-10-24 1981-04-30 Olympus Optical Co ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE FOR A COELIAC CAVITY
GB2082769A (en) * 1980-06-24 1982-03-10 Olympus Optical Co Improvements in Ultrasonic Diagnosis Systems
NL8700632A (en) * 1987-03-17 1988-10-17 Stichting Biomedical Engineeri Medical spark erosion catheter - removes blockages in blood vessels using ultrasonic transducer to aid accurate placement

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19922056A1 (en) * 1999-05-14 2000-11-23 Heinz Lehr Medical instrument for internal examinations using ultrasonic or electromagnetic transducers, has drive connected to transducer at remote end of instrument so that it can be rotated
US6684094B1 (en) 1999-05-14 2004-01-27 Heinz Lehr Instrument for medical purposes
US6949072B2 (en) * 2003-09-22 2005-09-27 Infraredx, Inc. Devices for vulnerable plaque detection
US7450241B2 (en) 2005-09-30 2008-11-11 Infraredx, Inc. Detecting vulnerable plaque
US7679754B2 (en) 2005-09-30 2010-03-16 Infraredx, Inc. Arterial probe for OCT
US7929145B2 (en) 2005-09-30 2011-04-19 Infraredx, Inc. Arterial probe for OCT
US8035819B2 (en) 2005-09-30 2011-10-11 Infraredx, Inc. Arterial probe for OCT
CN109068995A (en) * 2016-02-26 2018-12-21 新宁研究院 Image probe with rotatable core
EP3419507A4 (en) * 2016-02-26 2019-09-11 Sunnybrook Research Institute Imaging probe with rotatable core
US11317891B2 (en) 2016-02-26 2022-05-03 Conavi Medical Inc. Imaging probe with rotatable core

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