LASER CATHETER FOR ABLATION OF LESIONS IN A BLOOD VESSEL

摘要

Lesions in human blood vessels may be removed with little or no thermal damage to vessel wall, and with reduced risk of accidental wall perforation, using a catheter which delivers laser energy in the 210 to 320 nanometer wavelength range. The laser energy is transmitted from source (4) through an elastomer-clad high-purity silica optical fibre (5) positioned in a catheter sheath (7), and the sheath exhausts lesion destruction products. The source (4) includes two lasers, the first producing the energy in the 210 to 320 nanometer wavelength range, and the second laser producing energy into the visible range, the second laser being operated to remove remaining calcified portions of a lesion after the main organic part has been removed by the first laser.