Strain imaging of vascular pathologies using a compliant balloon catheter

An integrated compliant silicone balloon catheter was developed to allow greater deformations in strain imaging with intravascular ultrasound. An Endosonics 64-element array was placed inside a compliant balloon catheter to capture real-time phase-sensitive radio frequency (rf) data during deformation experiments. A hard-soft rubber phantom, thrombus, and fibrotic plaque were imaged using the integrated compliant balloon/ultrasound catheter to produce strain images. The results show that an integrated compliant balloon/ultrasound catheter can apply large deformations at low pressures and image various vascular pathologies ex vivo. This catheter could serve as a multi-functional intravascular therapeutic device to guide angioplasty and stent deployment.