| abstract |
The method and apparatus of the invention relates to the removal of foreign deposits of material from vessels of living human beings, such as cholesterol from blood vessels, by means of accelerations of vibratory forces in the ultrasonic frequency range without causing any disruption or damage to the surrounding walls of the vessels. The layer of material is removed from the inner surface of a vessel of a human in vivo by supporting a portion of the wall of the vessel and inserting in the vessel a tool member having an output surface that is vibrated to provide peak accelerations of at least 1,000 g''s, as the output surface of the vibrated tool member is placed in contact with the material at substantially the supported wall portion so as to transmit the mechanical vibrations thereto for a time sufficient to effect disintegration of the contacted material, and at the same time effecting relative movement of the tool member relative to the vessel so as to progressively contact, disintegrate, and thereby remove the layer of material from the vessel. |