Pulse wave sensor includes strain generating body with circular opening, resin layer covering strain generating body's one surface, and strain gauge provided on strain generating body's other surface opposite to one surface and including Cr mixed phase film as resistor. Where circular opening diameter is d [mm] and strain generating body thickness is t [mm], when material of strain generating body is SUS and d is 32, 22, 13, and 7, required range of t is 0.059t0.124, 0.046t0.099, 0.030t0.067, and 0.026t0.034, respectively, when the material is copper and d is 32, 22, 13, and 7, required range of t is 0.084t0.166, 0.066t0.132, 0.044t0.088, and 0.032t0.050, respectively, and when the material is aluminum and d is 32, 22, 13, and 7, required range of t is 0.097t0.212, 0.079t<0.168, 0.050<<0.107, 0.038<t<0.063, respectively. Pulse wave sensor detects pulse wave based on change in resistance value of resistor upon deformation of strain generating body.

Disclosed herein are medical systems and devices that include an elongate probe configured for insertion into a patient, where the elongate probe includes an electrically conductive (EC) medium extending along probe. The EC medium may take several forms, including a conductive cannula, an ionic solution, a flex circuit, wires, or platings. The probe includes a conductive tip for exchanging electrical signals with a patient. The probe includes optical fiber having shape sensing core fibers, illuminating core fibers and imaging core fibers. A console of the system includes logic executed by one or more processors to perform operations that include providing and/or receiving electrical signals to and from the patient. Operations further include shape sensing of the probe, projecting illuminating light, and receiving imaging light.

The invention relates to a system for determining blood flow within a blood vessel (18). A fluid infusion unit (4, 10, 11) continuously infuses a fluid into the blood vessel, and a temperature values determining unit (14, 21) determines simultaneously a first temperature value at a first location and a second temperature value at a second location such that the first temperature value is indicative of the temperature of the fluid and the second temperature value is indicative of the temperature of a mixture of the fluid and the blood. The blood flow is determined based on the measured first and second temperature values and the infusion rate. This kind of determining the blood flow leads to an increased accuracy and is less cumbersome than known techniques requiring a movement of a temperature sensor for measuring temperatures at different locations.

A joint distraction lever includes a lever body, a foot coupled to the lever body via a hinge such that the foot is rotatable relative to the lever body, and a force sensor positioned between a bottom surface of the lever body and the foot and configured to measure a force of the foot on the bottom surface of the lever body during a joint distraction procedure in which a torque is applied to the lever body.

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a fiber-optically enabled medical device system including an optical fiber and one or more conductive elements. The optical fiber is configured to determine a shape of the medical device as the device negotiates tortuous vascular pathways. The one or more conductive elements can be configured to transmit electrical signals there along between the distal tip and a console coupled to a proximal end of the medical device. The electrical signals can determine a location of a tip of the medical device, detect an electrophysiological signal at a distal tip, and/or provide electro-stimulation or ablation energy to the distal tip of the medical device. The one or more conductive elements can be a wire extending linearly or helically about the optical fiber, or can be a tube, or tube section, extending annularly about the optical fiber, or combinations thereof.

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to steerable devices configured to negotiate tortuous vascular pathways. The system can include a stylet having a shapeable portion formed of a shape-memory, super-elastic material such as Nitinol. The stylet can be placed within a catheter and can include a fiber-optic strain sensor (FOSS) system configured to determine a shape of the stylet. Passing a fluid of a predetermined temperature through a lumen of the catheter can modify temperature of the shapeable portion which in turn can modify a shape and/or flexibility state of the shapeable portion. Modifying the shape of the shapeable portion can modify an angle at which a distal tip of the stylet extends relative to the central longitudinal axis. A user can then rotate and advance the distal tip to negotiate tortuous vascular pathways. Similarly, modifying a flexibility of the shapeable portion can facilitate negotiating tortuous vascular pathways.

An apparatus for determining a shape of a luminal sample including: a catheter including a lens, the catheter disposed within a strain-sensing sheath such that the lens rotates and translates; a structural imaging system optically coupled to the catheter; a strain-sensing system optically coupled to the catheter; and a controller coupled to the strain-sensing system and the structural imaging system. The controller determines: a first position of the catheter relative to the luminal sample at a first location within the strain-sensing sheath; a second position of the catheter relative to the luminal sample at a second location within the strain-sensing sheath; a first strain of the strain-sensing sheath at the first location; a second strain of the strain-sensing sheath at the second location; a local curvature of the luminal sample relative to the catheter; a local curvature of the catheter; and a local curvature of the luminal sample.

Strain-sensing systems, indwelling medical devices, and methods for determining one or more physical attributes are disclosed. A strain-sensing system can include, for example, an indwelling medical device, an optical interrogator, and a console. The medical device can include an optical-fiber probe having fiber Bragg grating (“FBG”) sensors. The optical interrogator can be configured to send input optical signals into the optical-fiber probe and receive FBG sensor-reflected optical signals therefrom. The console can include one or more processors, memory, and executable instructions that cause the console to perform a set of operations including: receiving the FBG sensor-reflected optical signals from the optical interrogator; converting the FBG sensor-reflected optical signals into converted electrical signals with optical signal-converter logic; and determining in a real-time determination the one-or-more physical attributes associated with a heart, lungs, or both the heart and lungs from at least the converted electrical signals with physical attribute-determination logic.

A fiber optic tracking sensor includes an outer tube, a plurality of optical fibers within the outer tube and including a central optical fiber and a plurality of additional optical fibers, and one or more structural members within the outer tube and configured to provide a spacing between the plurality of optical fibers such that the central optical fiber is positioned along a central longitudinal axis of the outer tube and the plurality of additional optical fibers are spaced apart from one another and from the central optical fiber.

An apparatus for determining a shape of a luminal sample including: a catheter including a lens, the catheter disposed within a strain-sensing sheath such that the lens rotates and translates; a structural imaging system optically coupled to the catheter; a strain-sensing system optically coupled to the catheter; and a controller coupled to the strain-sensing system and the structural imaging system. The controller determines: a first position of the catheter relative to the luminal sample at a first location within the strain-sensing sheath; a second position of the catheter relative to the luminal sample at a second location within the strain-sensing sheath; a first strain of the strain-sensing sheath at the first location; a second strain of the strain-sensing sheath at the second location; a local curvature of the luminal sample relative to the catheter; a local curvature of the catheter; and a local curvature of the luminal sample.