Patent ID: 8840566

Claim:
A catheter system with an imaging capability, for guiding a tool to a desired location within a body of a patient, the system comprising: (a) an elongate flexible catheter guide shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, said elongate flexible catheter guide shaft being adapted to be advanced within a body of a patient, to a desired location; (b) an optical imaging scanner having an outer diameter of 1.3 millimeters or less and configured to generate image data for providing at least two-dimensional optical imaging within a body of a patient, the optical imaging scanner having a scanning optical fiber configured to vibrate in a desired pattern so as to produce a variable field of view and the optical imaging scanner being disposed within and at the distal end of the elongate flexible guide shaft, the optical imaging scanner positioned within the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft so as to enable imaging directly forward along a longitudinal axis of the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft, both while the elongate flexible guide shaft is moving and while it is fixed in position, the optical imaging occurring at least during one of: (i) while the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft is being advanced within the body of a patient; (ii) while the distal end of the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft is disposed at a desired location within a body of a patient, the imaging scanner then imaging the tool in relationship with adjacent tissue, to enable optically viewing an interaction of the tool with the adjacent tissue, even if the tool has been advanced distally beyond a distal end of the elongate flexible catheter shaft; or (iii) while the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft is being withdrawn from within the body of a patient; and (c) a cannula that includes a lumen sized and shaped to readily form an annular gap with and slide over the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft toward the distal end of the elongate flexible guide shaft, the cannula having a diameter larger than a diameter of the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft and being adapted to be slid over and beyond the distal end of the elongate flexible catheter guide shaft and toward the desired location, the elongate flexible catheter shaft thus serving as a guidewire for positioning the cannula at the desired location within the body of a patient, wherein the diameter of the cannula is within the variable field of view of the scanner.