Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
62 words
Apparatus for reconstructing the inner surface of a blood vessel comprising: a) a catheter having a position sensor contained therein; b) means for acquiring position information from said sensor at a plurality of points in
said vessel; c) means for calculating a centerline of the vessel based on said position information;
and d) means for calculating the inner surface of the vessel.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 1 which further comprises means for displaying the
reconstruction.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said sensor is an electromagnetic
sensor.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: means for advancing
the catheter into the vessel.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the centerline is calculated as a
parametric function.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the parametric function is a polynomial form.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the distances between
acquisition points and respective points on the centerline closest to said acquisition points
are minimized.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said distances are minimized in a least squares
sense.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 8 adapted to reconstruct said inner vessel in
surface approximately circular cross-section.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 9 which is adapted to calculate slices of the
vessel about said centerline.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said slices are perpendicular to said centerline.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said slices perpendicular to said centerline have
a fixed cross-section or a variable cross-section.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
39 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 12 which is adapted to calculate the
distance from each point on the reconstruction to the centerline as a function of the
distances of the acquisition points to the centerline.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
65 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the distance from each point on the
reconstruction to the centerline is: the average distance of the acquisition points to the
centerline; or the median distance of the acquisition points to the centerline; or a weighted
average of the distances of the acquisition points to the centerline wherein preferably said
weighted average accords greater weight to proximate acquisition points.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 13 or claim 14 which includes means whereby said distance
may be user selected.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 15 which further comprises means for
acquiring condition information at said acquisition points.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 16 which is adapted to use color-coding to depict values of
said condition information.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 16 or claim 17 including means for interpolating values of
condition information on the vessel surface intermediate said acquisition points.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 18 including means for traversing the
catheter in the vessel while said position information is obtained.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
27 words
The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 19 wherein said position information is
obtained by sampling points on the vessel wall around the vessel cross-section.