IR spectroscopic endoscope with inflatable balloon

US6577891B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Bruker Optik GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Werner Jaross · Rabenau, DE
• Matthias Boese · Karlsruhe, DE
• Arno Simon · Ettlingen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 17, 1999
• Grant date: Jun 10, 2003
• Expiry date: Dec 17, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61B5/0086
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A device for the optical spectroscopic examination of interior surfaces (2, 2′) of a body, e.g. of blood vessels (1), comprising an optical spectrometer and an endoscope (3) with a light guide for illuminating the surfaces, wherein at the proximal end of the light guide it is supplied with light and at the distal of the light guide the light can be launched to the surfaces to be examined, wherein at the distal end of this endoscope there is provided a device for receiving the light reflected by the surfaces to be examined, is characterized in that the distal end of the light guide is arranged within an inflatable balloon (4) with an elastic exterior, and that the light decoupled from the light guide and the light reflected by the surfaces to be examined to the receiving device penetrates in each case the exterior of the balloon. In this way, the light launched by the light guide and also the light directed to the surface to be examined and the light scattered by them, if e.g. interior walls of the vessels in the human body are to be examined, does not pass twice a layer of blood or body fluid, and the distal end of the endoscope is fixed such that during measurements, shaking…