Importance

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Abstract

A small diameter steerable guidewire that is used to guide a catheter in transluminal coronary angioplasty is provided with a pair of electrodes for measuring the cross-sectional area of a blood vessel and for measuring blood flow. The guidewire includes a shaft and a tip attached to the distal end of the shaft. The shaft is torsionally rigid along its length and includes a conductive tube and a wire extending through the tube. The tip, which can be bent to a prescribed curve when relaxed, is sufficiently flexible to adapt to and follow the contours of a blood vessel. The tip includes a tapered extension of the wire in the shaft. A proximal electrode and a distal electrode are coaxially mounted on the tapered wire and are electrically connected to the tube and the wire, respectively. The electrodes are axially spaced apart by a predetermined distance. Each electrode is preferably a conductive, helically-wound spring. The outside diameter of the steerable guidewire preferably does not exceed about 0.020-inch for coronary use.

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First Claim