METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FRAGMENTATION OF HARD SUBSTANCES

摘要

The catheter is used for generating localized shock waves. The shock waves may be used to destroy hard substances (20) within the human body such as calculi and calcific arterial plaque. The catheter is comprised of a tubular catheter body (12). A vibratile tip (14) is coupled to the tubular catheter body. It may be either loosely coupled or tightly coupled to the catheter body. In destroying the hard substances, the vibratile tip is positioned close to the hard substances. The inner surface (18) of the vibratile tip is then struck by energy sufficient to create a plasma at or near the inner surface. Irrigation is employed at this inner surface to contain the plasma that results from the excitation from the energy source. This creation of the plasma produces a shock wave that is translated into mechanical vibrations. The mechanical vibrations are propagated to the hard substance via the vibratile tip resulting in fragmentation of the hard substance. An energy source that may be used is laser energy. It may be transported to the inner surface of the vibratile tip via an optical fiber (16) that is disposed within the catheter body. Alternatively, electro-hydraulic energy may be used.