Catheter for intravascular ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging

摘要

A design and a fabrication method for an intravascular imaging and therapeutic catheters for combined ultrasound, photoacoustic, and elasticity imaging and for optical and/or acoustic therapy of hollow organs and diseased blood vessels and tissues are disclosed in the present invention. The invention comprises both a device—optical fiber-based intravascular catheter designs for combined IVUS/IVPA, and elasticity imaging and for acoustic and/or optical therapy—and a method of combined ultrasound, photoacoustic, and elasticity imaging and optical and/or acoustic therapy. The designs of the catheters are based on single-element catheter-based ultrasound transducers or on ultrasound array-based units coupled with optical fiber, fiber bundles or a combination thereof with specially designed light delivery systems. One approach uses the side fire fiber, similar to the one utilized for biomedical optical spectroscopy. The second catheter design uses the micro-optics in the manner of a probe for optical coherent tomography.

主权项

1. An intravascular ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging and therapeutic device comprising:
a catheter with a proximal end and a distal end; one or more intravascular ultrasound imaging and therapeutic units comprising a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the distal end comprises one or more single-element ultrasound transducers, one or more ultrasound arrays or a combinations thereof, wherein the proximal end comprises a port connecting the one or more ultrasound units to one or more ultrasound pulser-receivers; one or more optical units comprising a proximal end and a distal end combination, wherein the distal end comprises one or more optical fibers, one or more optical bundles or a combination of both and one or more light delivery systems comprising micro-optics mounted on one or more optical fibers or one or more optical bundles or based on total internal reflection of the optical fiber, wherein the proximal end comprises a port to couple at least one optical unit to at least one of a pulsed light source or a continuous wave (CW) light source, wherein:
the distal end of the ultrasound and optical units are aligned such that ultrasound and optical waves are directed to a target tissue;the ultrasound waves are directed to a first region of the target tissue;the optical waves are directed to a second region of the target tissue; andthe first region and the second region are simultaneously overlapping; an ultrasound pulser-receiver connected to the proximal end of the one or more ultrasound imaging and therapeutic units; a light source connected to the proximal end of the one or more optical units comprising one of a pulsed light source having a pulsed laser fluence and a CW light source having a CW laser fluence; and an imager connected to the proximal end of the catheter, to the pulser-receiver and to pulsed light source to capture one or more ultrasound, photoacoustic and elasticity images, wherein a majority of a laser and ultrasound energy is uni-directionally directed at the target tissue and the imager is capable of a reconstruction of a distribution of an ultrasound impedance, a shear elastic modulus and an absorbing tissues deposition in an imaged target tissue cross-section and of performing an optical therapy, an acoustic therapy or both.