Importance

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Abstract

Interventional tools are described that are suitable for measuring the temperature of or temperature variations in a vessel wall in the body of a patient and thereafter treating vulnerable plaque that is identified during the thermal mapping. The described interventional tools all include one or more thermal sensors that are suitable for detecting an indication of the temperature of or temperature variations in walls of a vessel the tool is inserted into. These sensors may be used to facilitate the detection of vulnerable plaque within the vessel. In one aspect, the interventional tool includes a stent delivery device that is suitable for delivering a stent to a selected segment of a vessel the interventional tool is inserted into. In an alternative aspect the interventional tool includes a deployment lumen. The deployment lumen is sized suitably for receiving a stent delivery catheter therethrough. A distal port that opens from the deployment lumen permits the distal portion of the stent delivery catheter to pass therethrough and to exit the elongated member to permit deployment of a stent. In another quite different arrangement, a heating element is provided. The heating element is arranged to heat a segment of a vessel that is identified as containing vulnerable plaque. Preferably, the heating element heats the vessel walls to a temperature sufficient to induce apoptosis in inflammatory cells associated with the vulnerable plaque.

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First Claim