Patent ID: 8685071

Claim:
A catheter for illuminating at least a portion of a lumen of a subject, comprising: a flexible light bar including a plurality of light emitters, and a plurality of electrical connections, each electrical connection having a first end electrically connected to one of the light emitters, a second end opposing the first end and electrically connected to another one of the light emitters, and at least one S-shaped portion between the first end and the second end; and a cylindrical polymer encasement portion having a maximum cross-sectional diameter that is less than about 1.5 mm, wherein the polymer encasement portion completely encases the plurality of light emitters and the electrical connections, wherein the at least one S-shaped portion of the electrical connections provides an offset arrangement for adjacent light emitters such that the adjacent light emitters overlap when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the polymer encasement portion to reduce a diameter of the polymer encasement portion, wherein the longitudinal axis of the polymer encasement portion intersects at least a portion of each adjacent light emitter; wherein the electrical connections connect the light emitters without the use of a planar mounting strip extending along most of a length of the light bar such that only the polymer encasement portion and the electrical connections mechanically couple the plurality of light emitters together.