Patent 7366563 was granted and assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft on April, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Catheter device for insertion into an area being examined, in particular into a vessel or cavity-containing organ in the body of a person or animal, wherein in the area of the catheter tip a device (3) is provided for emitting excitation light for light-optically exciting an area being examined surrounding the catheter tip, furthermore a device (3) is provided for collecting response light emitted, owing to excitation, from the area being examined, and furthermore a position sensor (13, 24, 27) is provided enabling the catheter tip's spatial position and/or orientation to be registered in a system of coordinates of a position-registering system (7, 14).