OCT catheter with low refractive index optical material

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Diagnosis & Surgery (A61B)

Published March 31st, 2026

Detected March 31st, 2026

Summary

The USPTO granted Patent US12588819B2 to Elumn8 Medical, Inc. for an OCT catheter with low refractive index optical filler material designed to reduce imaging artifacts during medical procedures. The patent covers 26 claims relating to catheter devices combining imaging and intervention capabilities with a tapered distal end serving as a crossing tool for occluded vessels. Inventors include John B. Simpson, Kin Foong Chan, Wendy Lam, Sergio Salinas, and Evangeline Lumabas.

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What changed

The USPTO issued Patent No. 12,588,819 B2 to Elumn8 Medical, Inc. on March 31, 2026, granting exclusive rights to an OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) catheter technology. The patent covers catheter devices featuring an optical component with a reflecting surface and tapered distal end that serves dual functions: redirecting light into an imaging beam for vessel wall visualization, and acting as a crossing tool to navigate occluded or partially-occluded vessel sections. The low refractive index optical filler material is specifically designed to reduce image artifacts at the imaging interface with patient fluid and tissue.

Patent holders and medical device manufacturers should review their patent portfolios and freedom-to-operate analyses to account for this newly granted intellectual property. Companies developing similar OCT imaging catheter technologies may need to evaluate licensing options or design-around strategies. The patent's 26 claims establish broad protection for the integrated imaging-intervention catheter architecture with low refractive index materials.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Oct catheter with low refractive index optical material

Grant US12588819B2 Kind: B2 Mar 31, 2026

Assignee

Elumn8 Medical, Inc.

Inventors

John B. Simpson, Kin Foong Chan, Wendy Lam, Sergio Salinas, Evangeline Lumabas

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure include apparatuses, systems, and methods for a catheter with a single element for both imaging and interventions. The catheter may have a distal tip which is positionable in a patient (e.g., in a lumen of a vessel). The distal tip may have an optical component which includes both a reflecting surface and a tapered distal end. The reflecting surface may redirect light (e.g., light received along an optical fiber of the catheter) into an imaging beam, which may be directed to a wall of the vessel. The tapered distal end may be a crossing tool used to cross an occluded or partially-occluded section of the vessel. In some embodiments, the reflecting surface and tapered distal end may be the same surface of the optical component. A low refractive index optical filler may be provided to reduce image artifacts at the imaging interface with the patient's fluid and tissue.