Expandable laser catheters for utilizing laser energy to remove obstructions from body passages are described. In one embodiment, the laser catheter includes a shaftway having a distal end including a flexible portion configured in a series of radial folds. Multiple optical fibers, configured to transmit laser energy, extend along the shaftway and are attached to the flexible portion. An inflatable, ring-shaped balloon is attached to the catheter within the flexible portion. In use, the catheter is inserted into a body passage such as an artery, and advanced until the distal end is adjacent to an obstruction. The balloon is inflated to expand the flexible portion and to bring the optical fibers nearer the inner wall of the body passage. Laser energy is directed by the optical fibers toward targeted regions of the obstruction. As the catheter is advanced and the process repeated, a core is formed from the obstruction and contained within the flexible portion. The flexible portion is then contracted to hold the core, and the core is removed from the body passage by withdrawing the catheter.

A radiation emitting apparatus is disclosed that emits a substantially homogenous beam of radiation from an irregularly shaped output end. As described herein, a radiation emitting apparatus includes a bundled fiberguide coupled to an energy distribution tuner. The bundled fiber guide is coupled to the energy distribution tuner to receive a substantially uniform distribution of high power energy. The bundled fiber guide is configured to distribute the energy to emit a substantially uniform distribution of lower power energy toward a target surface, such as a body surface. The bundled fiber guide may include a plurality of fused optic fibers, a plurality of beam splitting mirror elements, or tapered waveguides.

The laser irradiation apparatus 100 comprises: a long and slender main body 101; a rotating shaft 180 that is held, rotatably inside the main body 101; optical fibers 103a, 103b; multiple reflecting mirrors 181a-181f that are installed on the rotating shaft 180 and reflect the laser rays; and a drive unit 105 that drives the rotating shaft. Multiple reflecting mirrors 181a14 181f are located in different positions along the longitudinal and circumferential directions of the rotating shaft 180. The slanting angles of reflecting mirrors 181a14 181f move are set at angles that converge the reflected laser rays at a target area. The positions where reflecting mirrors 181a14 181f reflect the laser rays move along the axial direction as the rotating shaft 180 rotates. The vicinity of the target area is maintained at relatively low temperatures. In the meanwhile, the target area is heated to a specified temperature due to the convergent of the laser rays.

An apparatus and method for transilluminating a tubular tissue within the body. The apparatus comprises an elongate catheter having a fiber optic substantially coextensive with the length thereof which provides diffuse illumination laterally along at least a portion of the length of the catheter. The fiber optic terminus at the proximal end of the catheter is flared to form a light receiving aperture for collecting illuminating light. The flared proximal end of the optical fiber presents an effectively greater light input aperture and enables the fiber to conduct more light to the distal delivery end than would otherwise be possible with a fiber having a flat cut end and receiving light from a divergent light source. The distal end of the catheter is dimensioned to fit within a tubular tissue and be advanced therethrough. A portion of the distal end of the fiber optic is adapted to redirect the light laterally away from the optical axis along a length thereof to provide diffuse cylindrical illumination directed radially outward from the optical axis. The catheter is particularly adapted for transilluminating the wall of a length of a tubular tissue for visualization during surgical procedures such as laparoscopic surgery.

In a surgical catheter or probe, an array of multiple surgical laser beams are directed such that several laser beams intersect at a precise point on, or in, the body of a surgical patient. The power density of the laser energy of the intersecting beams at the point of intersection is sufficient to alter or ablate the patient's tissue, bone or fluid. The energy of the individual laser beams before or after the point of intersection is not sufficient to injure the body of the patient. The apparatus may be embodied as a catheter or probe for an endoscope, or can be used in a separate mechanism such that the laser beams enter the surgical patient at different locations but intersect at a point within the patient.