Patent ID: 9743992
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61M

Claim:
1. A device for measuring an internal structure in a body of a patient, the device comprising: a catheter defining an annular lumen and comprising a flexible elongate member disposed within the annular lumen, the flexible elongate member defining a central lumen configured to receive a guidewire, wherein the annular lumen and the central lumen are concentrically aligned and separated by the flexible elongate member; an imaging device positioned at the distal portion of the elongate member; and a flexible radiopaque element wound about the elongate member within the annular lumen, wherein the radiopaque element includes a single piece of material having a first tightly wound section, a second tightly wound section, and a loosely wound section, wherein the first and the second tightly wound sections and the loosely wound section are arranged in an alternating manner with the loosely wound section positioned between the first and the second tightly wound sections such that the first and the second tightly wound sections are spaced from one another by the loosely wound section, wherein the first and second tightly wound sections are more prominently visible than the loosely wound section in a radiographic image such that the internal structure in the body of the patient is measurable in the radiographic image based on a distance between the first and second tightly wound sections defined by the loosely wound section.