The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that implements a side-viewing imaging catheter. This system includes a catheter sheath enclosing an imaging core, wherein the imaging core resents an internal optical channel coupled to an optical element located at the distal end of the imaging core. The optical element includes an internal reflective surface that reflects and focuses light transmitted via the optical channel in a direction orthogonal to a rotational axis of the catheter toward a target location, and returns reflected light from the target location back through the optical channel. This internal reflective surface of the optical element is shaped to focus the light so that a resulting beam shape at the target location has a small cross section area and substantially equal axial and transaxial dimensions.

An imaging device for imaging a portion of a patient's vasculature with an imaging element may include a proximal portion having a relatively higher stiffness that provides rigidity for pushing the imaging device through a patient's vasculature, and may include a distal portion having a relatively lower stiffness that enables threading through a curved vasculature of the patient. The imaging device also may include a transition region disposed between the proximal portion and the distal portion.

The system includes a catheter with an internal optical fiber that carries an optical beam and an optical element, which reflects the optical beam substantially orthogonal to a rotational axis of the catheter and is coupled to the end of the optical fiber. A motor drive unit (MDU) is coupled to the catheter, wherein the MDU comprises: a rotary collimator; a catheter interface, which couples the optical fiber to the rotary collimator; and a drive motor, which rotates the rotary collimator. The MDU also includes a first dichroic mirror that combines optical paths for a fluorescence-lifetime imaging (FLIm) system and an optical coherence tomography system into a single optical path, which is coupled to the optical fiber through the rotary collimator and the catheter interface. The MDU additionally includes a multispectral detector for the FLIm system, which is electrically coupled to a data acquisition unit forthe FLIm imagin system.

An image processing apparatus includes an image input that receives input of image data of a captured human being, a region detector that detects a specific color region of the image data, a filter that smooths a pixel value in the specific color region detected by the region detector by using a frame of the image data input into the image input and each of previous and subsequent frames of the image data of the inputting into the image input, a coder that codes an output image of the filter, and an output that outputs the output image of the filter coded by the coder.

A probe device for detecting atherosclerotic plaque may include: an elongate shaft having a proximal end for coupling with a catheter and a distal end; an opening in a side of the shaft; a scintillating window disposed over the opening to form a water tight seal and thus form an imaging window compartment; a 45-degree rotating mirror disposed at least partially within the imaging window compartment; and an ultrasound transducer disposed at least partially within the imaging window compartment. The probe is a dual-modality, catheter radionuclide imaging and photoacoustic tomography (CRI-PAT) probe.

The present disclosure involves a system and method of use for delivering an interventional instrument, such as an artificial chordae tendineae (ACT) delivery instrument, into a beating heart. By delivering interventional instruments in a beating heart via the system described here, complex and invasive open heart procedures as well as cardiopulmonary bypass can be avoided, significantly reducing patient trauma and recovery time as well as operation time and complexity. The system disclosed includes an optical imaging system to provide the practitioner with visual imagery from the end of the system, and allow for real-time or near real-time imaging of tissue inside the beating heart (e.g., leaflet tissue). This provides for accurate verification of placement of the interventional instrument. In addition, the system includes a grasping mechanism, which allows the practitioner to hold tissue in position prior to placing the interventional instrument.

A method of enhancing the visibility of blood vessels in a colour image captured by an image capturing device of a medical device, including, for at least some of the pixels of the image, the steps of: (a) processing data obtained from a first colour channel together with data obtained from a second colour channel to determine a value of a first parameter indicative of the intensity in the red spectrum relative to the total intensity of said pixel; (b) using said value of said first parameter and a first value of a user parameter to alter said pixel, the first value of the user parameter being based on user input, and wherein the strength of the alteration is dependent on both the value of said first parameter and the first value of said user parameter.

A blood vessel harvesting system, which harvests blood vessels in a state of being covered by surrounding tissue, includes a separating device and a display device. The separating device includes a rod portion that is inserted into a living body, an optically transparent taper-shaped separating portion that is disposed at a distal end part of the rod portion, an endoscope portion that is disposed inside the rod portion and captures an endoscope image of an interior of the living body via the separating portion, and an ultrasound transceiver portion that is disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the rod portion, irradiates the interior of the living body with an ultrasonic wave, and receives a reflected wave from the interior of the living body. The display device matches a scale of the endoscope image with a scale of an ultrasound image acquired by the ultrasound transceiver portion and simultaneously displays the endoscope image and the ultrasound image side by side on the display screen, and the display device disposes the endoscope image and the ultrasound image on the display screen such that a point in the endoscope image indicating a predetermined position in the living body matches a point in the ultrasound image indicating the predetermined position on the display screen.

A method and a medical elongate body are configured to prevent stagnation or turbulence of blood flow in a recess of a rugged pattern formed in a blood vessel due to bulging of a blood vessel wall at a lesion part of the blood vessel. The method involves partitioning an inside of the blood vessel into upstream and downstream sides of the recess, and introducing gel into the recess to at least partially fill the recess. A blood vessel lumen forming method and medical elongate body to form such a lumen are other aspects of the disclosure and involve introducing gel into the recess to at least partially fill the recess with the gel, and drilling the gel to remove at least some of the gel to form a passage and secure blood flow in the blood vessel.

A dissecting device for dissecting tissue surrounding a blood vessel in a living body. The dissecting device includes a grasping section that includes an insertion lumen. The dissecting device includes a dissecting member at the distal portion of the grasping section. The dissecting member is insertable into the living body along the blood vessel to dissect the tissue surrounding the blood vessel in the living body. The dissecting member includes a treating section and a protruding section. The treating section performs a predetermined treatment of a branch vessel branching from the blood vessel. The protruding section protrudes from the treating section in the thickness direction of the treating section. The protruding section includes a guide section configured to guide the branch vessel toward the treating section.