Patent ID: 8323202

Claim:
A transbronchial medical system for measuring pulmonary circulation information of the pulmonary artery from the bronchi and without penetrating the pulmonary artery during a live procedure comprising: a transbronchial catheter comprising a flexible shaft and a distal section, said distal section comprising at least one ultrasonic transducer; and an ultrasound Doppler signal processing unit comprising: an output port for delivering outgoing electrical signals to said at least one ultrasonic transducer; an input port for receiving incoming electrical signals from said at least one ultrasonic transducer; a processor in communication with said output port and said input port and configured (a) to control the outgoing electrical signals delivered to said ultrasonic transducer; (b) to receive and analyze the incoming electrical signals for volumetric flowrate (Q) of the pulmonary artery using Doppler shifting and time of flight analysis; (c) to determine a precursor pressure signature of the fluid in the pulmonary artery using Doppler shifting; and (d) to identify a pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) by comparing said precursor pressure signature to a database of pressure signatures determined prior to the live procedure wherein each of said predetermined pressure signatures has a corresponding mean pulmonary arterial pressure determined prior to the live procedure.