Patents by Inventor Carol A. Bertrand

Carol A. Bertrand has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5184621
    Abstract: A small diameter steerable guidewire that is used to guide a catheter in transluminal coronary angioplasty is provided with a pair of electrodes for measuring the cross-sectional area of a blood vessel and for measuring blood flow. The guidewire includes a shaft and a tip attached to the distal end of the shaft. The shaft is torsionally rigid along its length and includes a conductive main tube and a wire extending through the main tube. The tip, which can be bent to a prescribed curve when relaxed, is sufficiently flexible to adapt to and follow the contours of a blood vessel. The tip includes a tapered extension of the wire in the shaft. A proximal electrode and a distal electrode are coaxially mounted on the tapered wire and are electrically connected to the main tube and the wire, respectively. The electrodes are axially spaced apart by a predetermined distance. The distal electrode is preferably a conductive, helically-wound spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1991
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1993
    Assignee: C. R. Bard, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert A. Vogel, William A. Berthiaume, Carol A. Bertrand
  • Patent number: RE34780
    Abstract: An electrosugrical unit for conducting a predetermined ionizable gas in a jet stream to the tissue at a predetermined flow rate sufficient to clear natural fluids from the tissue and to substantially expose the tissue stroma and for exposing the gas to an electrical radio frequency energy to ionize the gas in conductive pathways in the gas jet stream. The unit includes a nozzle which is releasably connected to a handle for easy manipulation by a surgeon with the nozzle including means for supporting an electrode in an optimal position for initiation of the ionization of the gas. Also, a connecting system is disclosed for connecting the hose on which the handle is mounted to a gas delivery apparatus and supply or electrical energy which permits the hose to rotate while maintaining a positive hermetic seal to prevent the hose from kinking during use by a surgeon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1994
    Assignee: Birtcher Medical Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert P. Trenconsky, Carol A. Bertrand, Robert A. Weiss