Laser ultrasound probe and ablator
US5718231A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 20, 1996 |
| Grant date | Feb 17, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 20, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B18/245
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A laser ultrasound probe, suitable for intravascular use, of the kind having an ultrasonic transducer element comprising an ultrasound receiving surface of piezoelectric polymeric material and an optical fiber with one end directed forwardly from that surface and arranged to receive laser radiation for transmission through the optical fiber and emission from the said one end thereof, wherein the optical fiber is coupled with laser source means adapted to provide alternatively a relatively low average power laser beam, which, when modulated or pulsed and emitted from the one end of the optical fiber and incident on a target, will generate ultrasound at an intensity suitable to be received by the transducer element and converted thereby into electrical monitoring signals, and a relatively high average power laser beam suitable, when incident on the said target, to produce ablation thereof, the transducer element being sufficiently robust to withstand the ultrasound which is then also generated. The relatively low average power laser beam may alternatively be at a first wavelength which, when modulated or pulsed and emitted from the one end of the optical fiber into a medium which is …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.