Method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging and atherectomy

Claim 2

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body; a flexible drive cable disposed within the catheter body; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body, said transducer housing having a window; a transducer mounted on a component which can belong longitudinally advanced and retracted and which is disposed within a region at the distal end of the catheter body during ultrasonic imaging, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel; a detector for detecting longitudinal position of the transducer and communicating said transducer position to the signal processing unit for use in constructing an image of the vessel; means for rapid longitudinal displacement of the transducer relative to the flexible catheter body and over a distance of greater than 5 millimeters, said longitudinal displacement occurring in a time frame small compared to that associated with the heartbeat cycle; and a releasable coupling which can be set to restrain said means for rapid longitudinal displacement and released to initiate longitudinal displacement.

Claim 3

The catheter of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal displacement of the transducer occurs over a period of 0.005 to 1 second.

Claim 4

The catheter of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal displacement of the transducer occurs over a period of 0.005 to 0.3 seconds.

Claim 5

The catheter of claim 1, wherein said means for rapid longitudinal displacement comprises a spring attached to a lever arm.

Claim 6

The catheter of claim 1, further comprising a cutting assembly for atherectomy, said cutting assembly being attached to the flexible drive cable and disposed within the transducer housing so that it can cut material protruding into the transducer housing from without.

Claim 7

The catheter of claim 5, wherein the transducer is held radially stationary while the cutting assembly is being rotated.

Claim 8

The catheter of claim 5, wherein the transducer is mounted on a component disposed within the transducer housing during ultrasonic imaging and atherectomy.

Claim 9

The catheter of claim 7, wherein the transducer is mounted on said cutting assembly.

Claim 10

The catheter of claim 7, wherein the transducer is mounted on said transducer housing.

Claim 11

The catheter of claim 7, wherein the transducer is mounted on a transducer support associated with any one of the cutting assembly, the transducer housing, or the drive cable.

Claim 12

The catheter of claim 10, wherein the transducer is centered in the window on the transducer housing.

Claim 13

The catheter of claim 11, wherein the transducer support is proximally and distally bounded by means for retaining the transducer support at a longitudinal position fixed relative to the longitudinal position of the cutting assembly.

Claim 14

The catheter of claim 10, wherein the transducer support is rotatably connected to the drive cable.

Claim 15

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body; a flexible drive cable disposed within the catheter body; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body, said transducer housing having a window and an opening to urge a tool against a wall of the vessel; a transducer mounted on a component which is longitudinally advanced and retracted and which is disposed within a region at the distal end of the catheter body during ultrasonic imaging, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel; a detector for detecting longitudinal transducer position and communicating said transducer position to the signal processing unit for use in constructing an image of the vessel; and a biasing force element for rapid longitudinal displacement of the transducer relative to the flexible catheter body and over a distance of greater than 5 millimeters, said longitudinal displacement occurring in a time frame small compared to that associated with the heartbeat cycle.

Claim 16

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body; a flexible drive cable disposed within the catheter body; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body, said transducer housing having a window and an opening to urge a tool against a wall of the vessel; a transducer mounted on a component which is longitudinally advanced and retracted and which is disposed within a region at the distal end of the catheter body during ultrasonic imaging, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel; a detector for detecting longitudinal transducer position and communicating said transducer position to the signal processing unit for use in constructing an image of the vessel; and a biasing force element for rapid longitudinal displacement of the transducer relative to the flexible catheter body and over a distance of greater than 5 millimeters, said longitudinal displacement occurring in a time frame small compared to that associated with the heartbeat cycle.

Claim 17

The catheter of claim 14, wherein the longitudinal displacement of the transducer occurs over a period of 0.005 to 1 second.

Claim 18

The catheter of claim 14, wherein the longitudinal displacement of the transducer occurs over a period of 0.005 to 0.3 seconds.

Claim 19

The catheter of claim 14, wherein said biasing force element comprises a spring attached to a lever arm.

Claim 20

The catheter of claim 14, further comprising a cutting assembly for atherectomy, said cutting assembly being attached to the flexible drive cable and disposed within the transducer housing so that it can cut material protruding into the transducer housing from without.

Claim 21

The catheter of claim 18, wherein the transducer is held radially stationary while the cutting assembly is being rotated.

Claim 22

The catheter of claim 18, wherein the transducer is mounted on a component disposed within the transducer housing during ultrasonic imaging and atherectomy.

Claim 23

The catheter of claim 20, wherein the transducer is mounted on said cutting assembly.

Claim 24

The catheter of claim 20, wherein the transducer is mounted on said transducer housing.

Claim 25

The catheter of claim 20, wherein the transducer is mounted on a transducer support associated with any one of the cutting assembly, the transducer housing, or the drive cable.

Claim 26

The catheter of claim 23, wherein the transducer is centered in the window on the transducer housing.

Claim 27

The catheter of claim 24, wherein the transducer support is proximally and distally bounded by means for retaining the transducer support at a longitudinal position fixed relative to the longitudinal position of the cutting assembly.

Claim 28

The catheter of claim 23, wherein the transducer support is rotatably connected to the drive cable.

Claim 29

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body having an axis; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body and rotationally fixed relative thereto, said transducer housing having a window disposed on one side of said axis; and a transducer mounted on the transducer housing and positioned on an interior surface of the transducer housing in a region radially opposite said window, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel.

Claim 30

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body having an axis; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body and rotationally fixed relative thereto, said transducer housing having a window disposed on one side of said axis; and a transducer mounted on the transducer housing and positioned on an interior surface of the transducer housing in a region radially opposite said window, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel.

Claim 31

The catheter of claim 27, wherein the transducer is centered in the window on the transducer housing.

Claim 32

The catheter of claim 27, further comprising means for rapid longitudinal displacement of the transducer relative to the vessel to be imaged.

Claim 33

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body and rotationally fixed relative thereto, said transducer housing having a window; and a transducer mounted on the transducer housing and positioned on an exterior surface of the transducer housing, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel.

Claim 34

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body and rotationally fixed relative thereto, said transducer housing having a window; and a transducer mounted on the transducer housing and positioned on an exterior surface of the transducer housing, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel.

Claim 35

The catheter of claim 30, further comprising means for rapid longitudinal displacement of the transducer relative to the vessel to be imaged.

Claim 36

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body; a flexible drive cable disposed within the catheter body; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body, said transducer housing having a window; a transducer mounted on a component which can be longitudinally advanced and retracted and which is disposed within a region at the distal end of the catheter body during ultrasonic imaging, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel; a detector for detecting longitudinal position of the transducer and communicating said transducer position to the signal processing unit for use in constructing an image of the vessel; a biasing force element for rapid longitudinal displacement of the transducer relative to the flexible catheter body and over a distance of greater than 5 millimeters, said longitudinal displacement occurring in a time frame small compared to that associated with the heartbeat cycle; and a releasable coupling which can be set to restrain said biasing force element to release said biasing force element to initiate longitudinal displacement.

Claim 37

A catheter for ultrasonic imaging within a vessel, said catheter comprising: a flexible catheter body; a flexible drive cable disposed within the catheter body; a transducer housing mounted at the distal end of the catheter body, said transducer housing having a window; a transducer mounted on a component which can be longitudinally advanced and retracted and which is disposed within a region at the distal end of the catheter body during ultrasonic imaging, said transducer being operably connectable to an ultrasonic transmitter, receiver, signal processing unit, and display unit so that said transducer can ultrasonically scan the vessel to create images of the vessel; a detector for detecting longitudinal position of the transducer and communicating said transducer position to the signal processing unit for use in constructing an image of the vessel; a biasing force element for rapid longitudinal displacement of the transducer relative to the flexible catheter body and over a distance of greater than 5 millimeters, said longitudinal displacement occurring in a time frame small compared to that associated with the heartbeat cycle; and a releasable coupling which can be set to restrain said biasing force element to release said biasing force element to initiate longitudinal displacement.

Claim 38

The catheter of claim 32, wherein the longitudinal displacement of the transducer occurs over a period of 0.005 to 1 second.

Claim 39

The catheter of claim 33, wherein the longitudinal displacement of the transducer occurs over a period of 0.005 to 0.3 seconds.

Claim 40

The catheter of claim 33, wherein said biasing force element comprises a spring attached to a lever arm.

Claim 41

The catheter of claim 33, further comprising a cutting assembly for atherectomy, said cutting assembly being attached to the flexible drive cable and disposed within the transducer housing so that it can cut material protruding into the transducer housing from without.

Claim 42

The catheter of claim 36, wherein the transducer is held radially stationary while the cutting assembly is being rotated.

Claim 43

The catheter of claim 36, wherein the transducer is mounted on a component disposed within the transducer housing during ultrasonic imaging and atherectomy.

Claim 44

The catheter of claim 38, wherein the transducer is mounted on said cutting assembly.

Claim 45

The catheter of claim 38, wherein the transducer is mounted on said transducer housing.

Claim 46

The catheter of claim 38, wherein the transducer is mounted on a transducer support associated with any one of the cutting assembly, the transducer housing, or the drive cable.

Claim 47

The catheter of claim 41, wherein the transducer is centered in the window on the transducer housing.

Claim 48

The catheter of claim 41, wherein the transducer support is rotatably connected to the drive cable.

Claim 49

The catheter of claim 41, wherein the transducer support is proximally and distally bounded by means for retaining the transducer support at a longitudinal position fixed relative to the longitudinal position of the cutting assembly.