Patent ID: 7153273

Claim:
A catheter assembly for sensing the temperature of a blood vessel wall, comprising: an outer tube having a proximal end intended to remain outside a patient and a distal end terminating in an inflatable balloon to occlude blood flow; an inner tube disposed co-extensively within the outer tube, the inner tube extending to a distal tip beyond the distal end of the outer tube; a central elongate member comprising a tube to receive a guidewire; an expandable basket or braid structure having a first end attached to the distal tip of the inner tube and a second end attached to the central elongate member slidingly disposed within the inner tube to an expansion control at the proximal end; the expandable basket or braid structure including one or more temperature sensors supported thereon, each sensor being operative to generate an electrical signal indicative of temperature, such that operation of the control causes the structure to move between a collapsed state, enabling at least one of the sensors to be positioned in a section of the vessel to be measured, and an expanded state, wherein at least one of the sensors is in contact with, or immediately proximate to, the vessel wall before and after blood flow is occluded; and at least one sensor for measuring a non-wall temperature.