Color Doppler imaging of cardiac catheters using vibrating motors.

A miniature motor rotating at 11,000 rpm was attached onto the proximal end of cardiac electrophysiological (EP) catheters in order to produce vibrations at the tip that were then visualized by color Doppler on ultrasound scanners. The catheter tip was imaged within a vascular graft submerged in a water tank using the Volumetrics Medical Imaging 3D scanner, the Siemens Sonoline Antares 2D scanner and the Philips ie33 3D ultrasound scanner with TEE probe. The vibrating catheter tip was visualized in each case, although results varied with the color Doppler properties of the individual scanner.