An apparatus includes a catheter including light fibers extending from a proximal section to a distal section. The apparatus may include an emission section positioned on the distal section that is coated with an NVS agent. The material of the emission section may be different from the other sections of the catheter. The apparatus can be sterilized using E-beam sterilization.

Disclosed herein is a compound for use in a composition applied to a blood vessel, wherein the compound softens and/or disrupts the crystalline matrix of calcified plaque, as well as acutely restoring the vascular compliance at the treatment site of the blood vessel, while maintaining luminal gain during angioplasty. Methods of treatment comprising applying the disclosed composition are also disclosed. Plaque-softening compounds are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a device for detecting individual tumor cells, tumor clusters and micro metastases in the circulatory system which are enriched with a photo-sensitive substance. It is the object of the invention to provide a device allowing both a secure diagnostic detection of individual tumor cells in the circulatory system of humans and mammals and their therapeutic elimination in situ. This task is solved by a device comprising a radiation source (7, 11) with intravascular or extravascular excitation of the photo-sensitive substance, a detector (1, 12, 13) with intravascular or extravascular detection of a fluorescence and/or phosphorescence and/or luminescence radiation of the excited tumor cells and/or tumor clusters and/or micro metastases, a high sensitivity fluorescence spectrometer (5), connected to said detector (1, 12, 13), for detecting the emitted radiation, a computer (6) connected to said spectrometer (5) recording the received peaks of the emitted radiation as a function of time.

Disclosed is a novel vascular optical fiber guidewire. The vascular optical fiber guidewire includes a metal axial wire and an optical fiber surrounding the metal axial wire. The optical fiber includes a core wire and a cladding layer covering the core wire. For above vascular optical fiber guidewire, in a part of the optical guidewire that is required to transmit light, a bending radius of the optical fiber around the metal axial wire is greater than a critical bending radius, and in a region of the optical fiber guidewire that is required to scatter light, the bending radius of the optical fiber around the metal axial wire is less than the critical bending radius. The present disclosure is capable of entering a blood vessel by a percutaneous puncture technique, guiding the optical fiber guidewire through a medical imaging device in a blood vessel, and performing side-illumination on the head.

An illumination system is provided that includes a laser light source, a light guide, a connector, and an emission element. The laser light source has a numerical aperture. The light guide has a proximal end and a distal end. The connector has a connector housing and connects and/or assigns the laser light source at the proximal end. The emission element is at the distal end. The connector housing has a device that reduce an influence of a range of variation of the numerical aperture so that an emission behaviour of the emission element is independent of a range of variation of the numerical aperture.

Systems for enabling delivery of very high peak power laser pulses through optical fibers for use in ablation procedures preferably in contact mode. Such lasers advantageously emit at 355 nm wavelength. Other systems enable selective removal of undesired tissue within a blood vessel, while minimizing the risk of damaging the blood vessel itself, based on the use of the ablative properties of short laser pulses of 320 to 400 nm laser wavelength, with selected parameters of the mechanical walls of the tubes constituting the catheter, of the laser fluence and of the force that is applied by the catheter on the tissues. Additionally, a novel method of calibrating such catheters is disclosed, which also enables real time monitoring of the ablation process. Additionally, novel methods of protecting the fibers exit facets are disclosed.

Provided are conformable light delivery devices for increasing light penetration depth and related methods. The device may comprise a microarray of tissue penetrating members, each member having a distal end and a proximal end, wherein the tissue penetrating members are at least partially optically transparent to provide optical transmission through a surface that extends between the distal and proximal ends of each tissue penetrating member and a substrate that supports the tissue penetrating members, wherein the substrate is optionally a flexible substrate.

Methods and apparatus provide therapeutic electromagnetic radiation (EMR) for inactivating infectious agents in, on or around a catheter residing in a patient's body cavity and/or for enhancing healthy cell growth. The method comprises transmitting non-ultraviolet therapeutic EMR substantially axially along an optical element in a lumen of the catheter body and/or the catheter body. Through delivery of the therapeutic EMR to particular infected areas and/or areas requiring tissue healing. The methods and apparatus of the present disclosure inactivate the major sources of infection in, on, and around catheters and/or enhance healthy cell growth around catheters.

The invention relates to a device (17) for treatment of body tissue, in particular for the permanent occlusion of varicose veins, preferably in the lower limbs, of varicocele and/or of vascular malformations and/or for the use in aesthetic surgeries, preferably laser assisted lipolysis, and/or for tumor treatment by means of laser induced thermotherapy and/or photodynamic therapy, by means of a light diffuser (13) circumferentially and endoluminally irradiating said tissue by laser light energy, said diffuser (13) being connected at its proximal end to a source (10) of laser light energy via a flexible wave guide (12) comprising a fiber optic core (1) covered by an optical cladding (2) having a refractive index smaller than that of the core (1), wherein in the cladding (2) and/or in the core (1) imperfections (18) are provided, designed as recesses and adapted to direct the light, preferably to refract and/or reflect the light propagating within the core (1) and/or its optical cladding (2) in generally radial directions, wherein a cap (7) transparent to the laser light enclosing the distal end of the core (1) and its optical cladding (2) in a fluid tight and/or liquid tight manner is provided. According to the invention the device (17) is characterized in that the outer surface (19) of said optical cladding (2) is fused in the region (A) between said imperfections (18) to the inner surface (21), preferably the inner diameter, of the cap (7) and/or in that the outer surface (19) of said optical cladding (2) extending over a distance in front and/or behind the region (A) provided with the imperfections (18) is fused to the inner surface (21), preferably the inner diameter, of the cap (7).

A system for irradiation of a vascular space and its contents is presented. An adapter device having a vascular access end and an optical interface end can include a waveguide affixed within a waveguide lumen and extending outwardly through the vascular access end. The adapter device enables the simultaneous administration of radiation and exogenous fluids to a patient while maintaining the optical interface isolated from any fluids.