Importance

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Abstract

The present invention is an improved balloon-type catheter with an integral fiber optic assembly for delivering light to a intraluminal target wherein the improvement comprises the use of a perfusion channel to bypass the balloon near the tip of the catheter. The bypass channel enables a fluid material such as oxygen or blood to flow around the inflated balloon during photo-irradiation. A preferred embodiment of the balloon-type perfusion includes a body portion comprising an elongated, flexible, tubular sheath having proximal and distal ends. The body portion is internally partitioned into three longitudinal lumens. The first lumen contains the illuminating fiber optics that include a cylindrical light diffuser tip. The second lumen is an inflation passage for conducting inflation fluid to a balloon which coaxially surrounds the sheath overlying the diffuser tip terminus of the fiber optics near the distal end of the catheter. The third lumen, usually larger in cross-sectional area than the other two, serves as both a portion of a perfusion channel and as a conduit for a guidewire or other ancillary device. A portion of the perfusion channel exits the body portion proximal to the balloon providing fluid communication between the external surface of the sheath and the third lumen. The perfusion channel enables a fluid to flow from the proximal side of the inflated balloon to the distal side of the balloon while the balloon is inflated.

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First Claim