Patent ID: 8613751

Claim:
An ultrasound catheter for disrupting occlusions in blood vessels which can be guided along a guidewire from an access site on a patient's body to a target site adjacent an occlusion, the ultrasound catheter extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising: an elongate flexible catheter body having a proximal portion, a distal portion and at least one lumen, wherein the proximal portion has a larger cross-sectional diameter than the distal portion, the proximal portion is sufficiently stiff to push the distal portion through a blood vessel having at least one bend, and the distal portion is sufficiently flexible to pass through the bend in the blood vessel; an ultrasound transmission member extending longitudinally through the lumen of the catheter body and having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein a cross-sectional diameter of the ultrasound transmission member is less near its distal end than near its proximal end, and a distal portion of the ultrasound transmission member is sufficiently flexible to pass through the bend in the blood vessel; a distal head coupled with the distal end of the ultrasound transmission member and disposed adjacent the distal end of the catheter body, the distal head having a lumen and a distal end, the lumen being configured to receive the guidewire along an axis, the axis of the lumen being non-parallel relative to the longitudinal axis of the catheter at least at the distal end of the distal head; and at least one coupling member for coupling the ultrasound transmission member with a source of ultrasound energy.