Patent ID: 9548215
Date: 2017-01-17
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61F,A61L,G01B,H01L

Claim:
1. A method for imaging a radially expandable endoprosthesis comprising a tubular scaffold implanted within a bodily lumen, wherein a substrate of the endoprosthesis has been modified below an abluminal surface of the scaffold by a laser to have gas-filled voids embedded within the substrate below the abluminal surface, the voids sized to increase scattering of optical radiation from within the substrate, the method comprising: passing optical radiation across an external surface of the substrate of the endoprosthesis; and obtaining an image by optical coherence tomography (OCT) processing of light that has been scattered by the gas-filled voids from within the substrate below the abluminal surface modified by the laser, the obtained image includes an image signal corresponding to an interior substrate portion having the voids, wherein the image signal differentiates the interior substrate portion having the gas-filled voids from empty space outside of the substrate.