1. (canceled)
2. A method for use with a catheter sized for insertion into a human blood vessel, the catheter comprising an elongate shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, a heating coil located at or near the distal end of the shaft, the heating coil having a proximal end and a distal end, the coil being electrically insulated so as to prevent electrical conduction to any vessel tissue that comes into contact with the coil, and a temperature sensor located along the coil near and proximal of the distal end of the coil; the method comprising:
delivering electrical power to the coil while the coil is disposed in a first treatment segment of the blood vessel;
monitoring a temperature via the temperature sensor; and
creating overlap between the first treatment segment and a second treatment segment of the blood vessel by delivering electrical power to the coil again after sensing a temperature drop via the temperature sensor.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising holding the coil stationary in the first treatment segment while delivering electrical power to the coil.
4. The method of claim 2, further comprising reducing or deactivating power delivery to the coil after delivering power to the coil while the coil is in the first treatment segment and before delivering power to the coil while the coil is in the second treatment segment.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein a portion of the coil is disposed in the first treatment segment while delivering electrical power to the coil in the second treatment segment.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the catheter further comprises a second temperature sensor located on the shaft proximal of the heating coil, and the method further comprises communicating an alert when sensing a temperature drop relative to body temperature at the second temperature sensor.
7. The method of claim 2, wherein the heating coil is between about 1 and about 10 centimeters in length.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the overlap is approximately 0.5 centimeters.
9. The method of claim 2, wherein delivering power to the coil comprises delivering sufficient power to shrink or occlude the blood vessel.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising displaying which treatment segment is being treated with the coil.
11. An apparatus comprising:
a catheter sized for insertion into a human blood vessel, the catheter comprising an elongate shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, a heating coil located at or near the distal end of the shaft, the heating coil having a proximal end and a distal end, the coil being electrically insulated so as to prevent electrical conduction to any vessel tissue that comes into contact with the coil, and a temperature sensor located along the coil near and proximal of the distal end of the coil; and
a controller electrically connected to the catheter, the controller configured to:
deliver electrical power to the coil to treat a first treatment segment of the blood vessel;
monitor a temperature via the temperature sensor; and
create overlap between the first treatment segment and a second treatment segment of the blood vessel by delivering electrical power to the coil again after sensing a temperature drop via the temperature sensor.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to reduce or deactivate power delivery to the coil after delivering power to the coil while the coil is in the first treatment segment and before delivering power to the coil while the coil is in the second treatment segment.
13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to deliver power to the coil while the coil is in the second treatment segment and a portion of the coil is simultaneously disposed in the first treatment segment.
14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the catheter further comprises a second temperature sensor located on the shaft proximal of the heating coil, and the controller is further configured to communicate an alert when sensing a temperature drop relative to body temperature at the second temperature sensor.
15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the heating coil is between about 1 and about 10 centimeters in length.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the overlap is approximately 0.5 centimeters.
17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to deliver sufficient power to the coil to shrink or occlude the blood vessel.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller is further configured to display which treatment segment is being treated with the coil.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method to optimize one or more operational parameters of a communications transmitter having one or more imperfections, the one or more imperfections causing undesirable noise andor interference to be embedded within a transmitted communications signal, comprising:
(A) selecting one or more calibration signals;
(B) processing the one or more calibration signals to provide the transmitted communications signal;
(C) measuring one or more statistical parameters of the transmitted communications signal to provide one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal;
(D) adjusting one or more operational parameters of the communications transmitter in response to the one or more compensation parameters.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (A) comprises:
(A)(i) selecting an offset calibration signal from among the one or more calibration signals.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein step (A)(i) comprises:
(A)(i)(a) selecting a digital logic value of zero as the offset calibration signal.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (B)(i) comprises:
(B)(i) processing the one or more calibration signals using at least one of a group consisting of:
one or more digital processing functions; and
one or more analog processing functions to provide the transmitted communications signal.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the undesirable noise andor interference comprises an unwanted local oscillator (LO) offset, and wherein step (C) comprises:
(C)(i) measuring the one or more statistical parameters of the unwanted LO offset to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein step (C)(i) comprises:
(C)(i)(a) measuring a power level of the unwanted LO offset to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (C) comprises:
(C)(i) measuring a peak value of the undesirable noise andor interference;
(C)(ii) comparing the peak value to a threshold to provide the one or more compensation parameters, the one or more compensation parameters being indicative of whether the peak value exceeds the offset threshold.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein step (C) further comprises:
(C)(iii) providing the one or more compensation parameters at a first voltage level when the peak value is greater than the threshold; and
(C)(iv) providing the one or more compensation parameters at a second voltage level when the peak value is less than the threshold.
9. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
(E) repeating steps (A) through (D) until the one or more compensation parameters reaches the second voltage level.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein step (D) comprises:
(D)(i) adjusting one or more direct current (DC) compensation offsets in response to the one or more compensation parameters.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein step (A) comprises:
(A)(i) selecting an image calibration signal from among the one or more calibration signals.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the undesirable noise andor interference comprises an unwanted image, and wherein step (C) comprises:
(C)(i) measuring the one or more statistical parameters of the unwanted image to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein step (C)(i) comprises:
(C)(i)(a) measuring a peak value of an envelope of the transmitted communications signal to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal;
(C)(i)(b) comparing the peak value of the envelope of the transmitted communications signal to a threshold to provide the one or more compensation parameters, the one or more compensation parameters being indicative of whether the peak value exceeds the offset threshold
14. The method of claim 13, wherein step (C)(i) further comprises:
(C)(i)(c) providing the one or more compensation parameters at a first voltage level when the envelope of the transmitted communications signal is greater than the threshold; and
(C)(i)(d) providing the one or more compensation parameters at a second voltage level when envelope of the transmitted communications signal is less than the threshold.
15. An apparatus for optimizing one or more operational parameters of a communications transmitter having one or more imperfections, the one or more imperfections causing undesirable noise andor interference to be embedded within a transmitted communications signal, comprising:
a baseband processor configured to select one or more calibration signals and to process the one or more calibration signals to provide the transmitted communications signal;
a calibration module configured to measure one or more statistical parameters of the transmitted communications signal to provide one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal,
wherein the baseband processor is configured to adjust one or more operational parameters of the communications transmitter in response to the one or more compensation parameters.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more calibration signals comprises:
an offset calibration signal.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the offset calibration signal comprises:
a digital logic value of zero.
18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the baseband processor is configured to process the one or more calibration signals using one or more digital processing functions to provide a processed sequence of data, and wherein the apparatus further comprises:
a modulator configured to process the processed sequence of data using one or more first analog processing functions to provide a modulated communications signal; and
a front end module configured to processes the processed modulated communications signal using one or more second analog processing functions to provide the transmitted communications signal.
19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the undesirable noise andor interference comprises
an unwanted local oscillator (LO) offset, the calibration module being configured to measure the one or more statistical parameters of the unwanted LO offset to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the calibration module is configured to measure a power level of the unwanted LO offset to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal.
21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the calibration module comprises:
a peak detector configured to measure a peak value of the undesirable noise andor interference; and
a comparator configured to compare the peak value to a threshold to provide the one or more compensation parameters, the one or more compensation parameters being indicative of whether the peak value exceeds the offset threshold.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the calibration module is further configured to provide the one or more compensation parameters at a first voltage level when the peak value is greater than the threshold and to provide the one or more compensation parameters at a second voltage level when the peak value is less than the threshold.
23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise:
one or more direct current (DC) compensation offsets, the one or more DC compensation offsets being adjusted in response to the one or more compensation parameters.
24. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein step (A) comprises:
(A)(i) selecting an image calibration signal from among the one or more calibration signals.
25. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more calibration signals comprises:
an offset calibration signal.
26. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the undesirable noise andor interference comprises:
an unwanted image, the calibration module being configured to measure the one or more statistical parameters of the unwanted image to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal.
27. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein calibration module comprises:
an envelope detector configured to measure a peak value of an envelope of the transmitted communications signal to provide the one or more compensation parameters of the transmitted communications signal; and
a comparator configured to compare the peak value of the envelope of the transmitted communications signal to a threshold to provide the one or more compensation parameters, the one or more compensation parameters being indicative of whether the peak value exceeds the offset threshold
28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the comparator is further configured to providing the one or more compensation parameters at a first voltage level when the envelope of the transmitted communications signal is greater than the threshold and to provide the one or more compensation parameters at a second voltage level when envelope of the transmitted communications signal is less than the threshold.
29. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise:
one or more phases of one or more transmitter carrier waves.
30. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the baseband processor is configured to process the one or more calibration signals to provide a processed sequence of data, and wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise:
a phase of the processed sequence of data.