| abstract |
An infrared, heat sensing catheter (10) particularly useful for identifying potentially fatal arterial plaques in patients with disease of the coronary or other arteries and its use, are detailed. In one embodiment, an infrared fiberoptic system (70) is employed at the tip of the catheter (10) to locate inflamed, heat producing, artherosclerotic plaque, which is at greater risk for rupture, fissure, or ulceration and consequent thrombosis and occlusion of the artery. In another embodiment, a catheter (10) with an infrared detector employed at its tip will likewise locate inflamed heat producing atherosclerotic plaque. The invention may be used to detect abscesses, infection, and cancerous regions by the heat such regions differentially display over the ambient temperature of immediately adjacent tissues. The invention may also be used to detect regions of cooler than ambient tissue in a vessel or organ which indicate cell death, thrombosis, hemorrhage, calcium or cholesterol accumulations or foreign materials. |