Abstract: An intravascular catheter system has a catheter with a rotating tip and a fluid path to permit fluid to be ejected around the tip for cooling the tip. The system has an electric motor for rotating the catheter tip and a second motor for con trolling the fluid flow. A control circuit sets the speed of the two motors and also monitors the speed and other parameters for operational errors. If an error is detected for either motor, the entire system, including both motors, is automatically shut down. The control circuit utilizes two processors, a main processor for system control and speed control of both motors and a slave processor for monitoring the speed of the catheter motor. The main processor provides data regarding desired speed to the catheter motor and to the slave processor and the slave processor provides signals the main processor when it detects a speed error.

Abstract: An intravascular catheter system has a catheter with a rotating tip and a fluid path to permit fluid to be ejected around the tip for cooling the tip. The system has an electric motor for rotating the catheter tip and a second motor for con trolling the fluid flow. A control circuit sets the speed of the two motors and also monitors the speed and other parameters for operational errors. If an error is detected for either motor, the entire system, including both motors, is automatically shut down. The control circuit utilizes two processors, a main processor for system control and speed control of both motors and a slave processor for monitoring the speed of the catheter motor. The main processor provides data regarding desired speed to the catheter motor and to the slave processor and the slave processor provides signals the main processor when it detects a speed error.