Patent ID: 11890077
Assignee: THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a catheter configured and structured to be inserted into a blood vessel;
an energy source arrangement configured to provide at least one first light radiation through the catheter to the blood vessel at at least one first visible wavelength;
a detector arrangement configured to detect at least one second light radiation through the catheter at at least one second near-infrared wavelength that is different from the at least one first wavelength, wherein the at least one second light radiation is based on an autofluorescence of at least one portion of the blood vessel being impacted by the at least one first light radiation; and
a computer arrangement configured to determine at least one characteristic of the blood vessel indicative of inflammation based on the autofluorescence,
the determining procedure including processing the detector signal based on the at least one second light radiation to further determine the at least one characteristic.