Catheters comprising bending transducers and methods for their use
US5931805A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 2, 1997 |
| Grant date | Aug 3, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 2, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B2017/22082
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A catheter comprises a catheter body having a bending plate transducer disposed at or near its distal end. The bending plate transducer is typically a unimorph, bimorph, or other conventional vibratory transducer capable of imparting pressure waves in a direction generally normal to the plane of the transducer. The bending plate transducers may be disposed at a distal end of the catheter body, for example, as a cantilever beam, or may alternately be disposed within the catheter body. The catheters may further comprise lumens for drug delivery, balloons for encircling the transducer structures, or the like. The catheters are useful in a variety of lumenal therapeutic procedures, including drug delivery, stenotic disruption within blood vessel, and the like.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.