Optical, in-vivo examination of vessel walls and their coatings, avoiding interfering effects of blood - yields chemical substance-specific spectroscopic measurements and images.

摘要

An endoscopic method reaches far into a system of contorted tubes containing semi-opaque fluid, to analyze spectroscopically and to image deposits on the walls. An elongated torus expands a ring of slant-tipped optical fibers carrying illuminating light and reflections. At a catheter tip, an expander (4, 7) carries optical fibers (3) on its periphery. For introduction, the contracted state is adopted, allowing the fibers to clear the vessel wall (2). On expansion, they or their tips, contact the vessel wall. Light (5) transmitted by the fibers illuminates the wall or the deposits it carries. The reflected light (6) is intercepted by the fibers. At all times, blood flow in the vessel is maintained.