EP0177124A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Catheter
Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd
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Filing: 1985-07-11
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2005-07-11
Abstract
Abstract A catheter (4') for insertion into a blood vessel and for use in the treatment of heart disease comprises a flexible tube-like sheath (19) including radially expansible and contractible balloon (11) arranged about the peripheral surface of its distal end, a light guide (5, 31) for transmitting illumination light to the leading end of the catheter (4') and an image guide (8) for transmitting an image from the distal end of the catheter (4'). The catheter also includes a fluid passage (6) for expanding and contracting the balloon (11) and a transparent liquid guide passage (9, 31) opening at the distal end to provide a flush of transparent liquid. Such a catheter (4') thus functions concurrently as an endoscope to observe and locate a stenosis and a device to dilate a blood vessel to relieve the stenosis.
Inventors
- 👤 Shin-Ichi Osaka Works Ohkawa
- 👤 Koichi Osaka Works Tsuno
- 👤 Jun-Ichi Osaka Works Hiramoto
- 👤 Norifumi Osaka Works Matsumiya
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 06:35
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61M; A61M25/00; A61M25/10; A61M25/104; A61B; A61B1/00; A61B1/00163; A61B1/00165; A61B1/06; A61B1/07
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
118 words
A catheter (4') for insertion into a blood vessel and for use in the treatment of heart disease comprising a flexible tubular sheath (10) including a fluid passage (6) and a radially expansible and contractible balloon (11) surrounding the peripheral surface of the distal end of the sheath (19) and communicating with the fluid passage (6), characterized in that the catheter (4') also includes within its flexible tubular sheath (10), a light guide (5) for transmitting illumination light to the distal end of the catheter (4), an image guide (8) for transmitting an image from the distal end of the catheter (4'), and a transparent liquid guide passage (9) opening at the distal end of the catheter (4').
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
118 words
A catheter (4') for insertion into a blood vessel and for use in the treatment of heart disease comprising a flexible tubular sheath (10) including a fluid passage (6) and a radially expansible and contractible balloon (11) surrounding the peripheral surface of the distal end of the sheath (19) and communicating with the fluid passage (6), characterized in that the catheter (4') also includes within its flexible tubular sheath (10), a light guide (5) for transmitting illumination light to the distal end of the catheter (4), an image guide (8) for transmitting an image from the distal end of the catheter (4'), and a transparent liquid guide passage (9) opening at the distal end of the catheter (4').
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
A catheter according to claim 1, in which the light guide comprises a transparent member (5) which substantially fills the inside of the sheath (10) except for the portions occupied by the image guide (8), fluid passage (6) and transparent liquid guide passage (9).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A catheter according to claim 2, in which the light guide (5) is formed of polymethyl methacrylate, polymethyl methacrylate copolymer, polybutyl methacrylate, polybutyl methacrylate copolymer, polystyrene or polycarbonate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
A catheter according to claim 1, in which the light guide and the transparent liquid guide passage are formed by a common single channel (31, Figure 8) having a reflective inner surface (32).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
A catheter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the distal end of the catheter has a substantially constant external dimension (Figure 7).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
A catheter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the balloon (11) is formed of polyurethane, polyolefin or ethylene vinyl acetate.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
27 words
A catheter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the fluid passage (6) is provided by an annular clearance surrounding the image guide (8).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
77 words
A catheter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the light guide (5, 31, 32) has at its proximal end a plug (25, Figure 5) to be connected to an illumination light source, the plug (25) being disposed in close contact with the proximal end of the light guide (5, 31, 32) and including a cylindrical block (26) of glass or polymethylmethacrylate having substantially the same diameter as the light guide (5, 31, 32).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
A catheter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the channel (9, 31) is arranged to be used as a forceps feeding passage.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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