Patent ID: 6241744
Filing Date: 2001-06-05
Classification: A61B,A61M,Y10S

Abstract:
A method of navigating and advancing a guidewire through an occlusion in a blood vessel utilizing an apparatus including an outer sheath having a lumen therein, a catheter rotatably disposed in the lumen of the outer sheath, the catheter having at least one lumen therein, a forward looking ultrasound imaging guidewire deployable within the catheter lumen and extendable beyond the distal end of the catheter and the outer sheath, said guidewire further including a sharpened beveled tip at the distal end thereof and an ultrasonic imaging transducer mounted adjacent to the distal end of the guidewire, the method comprising advancing the distal end of the outer sheath through the vessel into proximity of the occlusion, advancing the guidewire beyond the distal end of the outer sheath and obtaining a forward looking ultrasonic image of the occlusion and the vessel, and advancing the sharpened beveled tip into the occlusion with the guidewire, with the sharpened beveled tip being utilized to facilitate steering of the guidewire while penetrating fibrous regions of the occlusion and wherein the ultrasound is utilized to provide forward looking ultrasonic imaging of the occlusion and vessel to facilitate navigation of the apparatus in the vessel.