Patent ID: 6740047
Filing Date: 2004-05-25
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A system for providing a probabilistic diagnosis of physiological dysfunction present in a tubular cavity within a living body, comprising:a catheter for obtaining circumferential pressure measurements at discrete locations along the body of the catheter and presenting analog representations of the circumferential pressure measurements; means for acquiring the analog representations and storing them to make them available for processing; means communicating with the means for acquiring the analog representations for generating descriptive graphical displays to facilitate visualization of physiological phenomena; and means communicating with the means for processing the analog representations and communicating with the means for generating descriptive graphical displays for interpreting physiological data obtained from within the tubular cavity within the living body and providing a probabilistic diagnosis based on the physiological data, wherein the catheter comprises a plurality of measuring segments, each measuring segment being maximally responsive to encountered circumferential pressure, each measuring segment communicating with signal conditioning circuitry by means of an optical fiber, wherein light is transmitted to the measuring segment from a light source at the proximal end of the optical fiber to a mirror assembly located in the segment and positioned opposite the optical fiber at the distal end of the optical fiber, so that encountered circumferential pressure deforms the segment, causing a misalignment of the position of the mirror assembly vis-a-vis the distal end of the optical fiber, resulting in a modulation of reflected light strength.