Optical fiber catheter for the diagnosis of atheromatosis platelets in the cardiovascular system

• Grant number: 96/06575-8
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Partnership for Technological Innovation - PITE
• Start date: August 01, 1998
• End date: September 30, 2000
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Biomedical Engineering - Medical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Renato Amaro Zângaro
• Grantee: Renato Amaro Zângaro
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade Camilo Castelo Branco (UNICASTELO). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Company: Tecnobio Ltda
• City: São Paulo

Abstract

Techniques based on Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy, also known as “optical biopsy”, have proven themselves to be potential substitutes for conventional histology. This entails a form of spectral analysis followed by a processing via software which enables the identification of the nature of deposits occurring on the coronary walls. Access to different regions of the body by laser radiation and the collection of the generated signal next to the tissue have proved to be one of the great technological obstacles to this technique becoming definitively established. In the present case, namely, in the diagnosis of in vivo coronary pathologies, anomalies are looked for in the wall of the arteries. This proposal was based on the study of the different parameters that involve a fiber optic catheter, in order to design and build one with a lateral view which, via laser radiation, enables it to stimulate an internal coronary wall, and to pick up in an efficient manner the Raman scattering generated by this same tissue. This catheter should be part of a piece of equipment that enables a diagnosis, in the first instance, and, in a second stage, the destruction of the platelets formed, avoiding perforation of the arteries. (AU)