Patent ID: 8506492
Filing Date: 2013-08-13
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. An ultrasonic catheter, comprising: a closed-ended catheter sleeve axially-extending from a proximate end to a distal closed-end of the catheter, the catheter sleeve configured for travel in a passageway defined by a blood vessel; an ultrasonic imaging device for generating an ultrasonic image, the ultrasonic imaging de vice arranged at a tip of the catheter, the closed-ended catheter sleeve including at least one window positioned opposite the ultrasonic imaging device to allow ultrasound signals to pass through, the ultrasonic device and said at least one window positioned to be spaced apart from the distal closed-end of the catheter; at least one lumen arranged in the closed-ended catheter and adjacent to the ultrasonic imaging device, said at least one lumen axially extending and fully contained within an interior space of the axially-extending closed-ended catheter sleeve to a location disposed between the closed-distal end of the catheter and the ultrasonic imaging device and said at least one window, said at least one lumen having at least one end opening at the location disposed between the distal closed-end of the catheter and the ultrasonic imaging device and said at least one window, the end opening disposed on a surface of the axially-extending closed-ended catheter sleeve at a location axially forward of the ultrasonic imaging device and said at least one window and configured to release an ultrasonic contrast agent at said axially forward location; an injector arranged to automatically inject the ultrasonic contrast agent into said at least one lumen; a computerized control device coupled to the ultrasonic imaging device and the injector, the control device configured to synchronize in a time domain an injection of the ultrasonic contrast agent with respect to a recording of the ultrasonic image.