US 12,376,826 B2
Determining the condition of vessels in the body
Finbar Dolan, Galway (IE); Dion Guilfoyle, Galway (IE); Ben Kinsella, Galway (IE); Ivan Mooney, Galway (IE); Hugh O'Donoghue, Galway (IE); Mary O'Donoghue, Galway (IE); and Jim Smedley, Galway (IE)
Assigned to VERSONO MEDICAL LIMITED, Galway (IE)
Appl. No. 18/258,082
Filed by VERSONO MEDICAL LIMITED, Galway (IE)
PCT Filed Dec. 17, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/086669
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 16, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/129623, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 23, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2020065 (GB), filed on Dec. 17, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0032893 A1, Feb. 1, 2024
Int. Cl. A61B 8/12 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/08 (2006.01); A61B 17/22 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 8/12 (2013.01) [A61B 8/085 (2013.01); A61B 8/0891 (2013.01); A61B 8/4272 (2013.01); A61B 8/445 (2013.01); A61B 2017/22014 (2013.01)] 28 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Endovascular apparatus for determining the condition of a vessel in a body, the apparatus comprising:
an elongate waveguide element, being a wire;
an activation unit comprising a source of ultrasonic energy and a coupling for coupling the source to the wire to activate the wire, thereby transmitting ultrasonic energy from the source along the wire to an active distal section of the wire; and
a signal acquisition system that is configured to acquire feedback signals from the apparatus for interpretation of vessel condition;
wherein the signal acquisition system comprises at least one acoustic sensor for acquiring acoustic feedback signals generated by interaction of the active distal section of the wire with neighbouring tissues or obstructions when the wire is activated, the at least one acoustic sensor being outside a housing of the activation unit, the at least one acoustic sensor further being:
an extra-corporeal sensor arranged to lie against a part of the body, or
an intra-corporeal sensor arranged to be inserted into the body, or
mounted on a catheter surrounding the wire.
 
27. A communication system comprising the apparatus of claim 1 in data communication with a computer system that is arranged to receive data from the apparatus, to optimise and update control algorithms accordingly and to output the optimised, updated control algorithms to the apparatus.