Patent ID: 7125404

Claim:
A method for removing an obstruction from a lumen of a living body, the method comprising: providing a catheter including a tubular outer sheath sized to be received within the lumen of the living body, the sheath including a longitudinal axis and a distal end, and an optical fiber line extending through the sheath, the optical fiber line disposed in an optical fiber guide located within the sheath; arranging the distal end of the sheath to be located proximal to the obstruction; generating a pulsed laser beam using a laser, the pulsed laser beam comprising laser pulses having a repetition rate, the optical fiber line in the sheath including an inlet end that receives the pulsed laser beam and an outlet end located proximal to the obstruction, the optical fiber guide configured to support at least the outlet end of the optical fiber line; displacing the outlet end of the optical fiber line a radial distance from the longitudinal axis of the sheath; rotating the fiber guide about the longitudinal axis of the sheath so that the outlet end of the optical fiber line follows a circumferential pathway within the lumen; adjusting the rotation rate of the fiber guide based on the pulse repetition rate of the pulsed laser beam so that successive laser pulses do not substantially spatially overlap on the circumferential pathway of the outlet end of the optical fiber line; and varying the radial distance of the outlet end of the optical fiber line from the longitudinal axis of the sheath.