Ra Medical Systems today announced that it received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its liquid-filled laser ablation catheters with expanded distal optical windows.

The patent describes a catheter with an increased ablation surface area at the distal catheter tip. It is the 11th U.S. patent issued to the Carlsbad, California-based company.

“The design covered by this patent is important because it allows us to achieve an increased ablation area without increasing the overall catheter profile. We believe this will make it easier for us to develop a family of products to address larger diameter vessels using the same base platform technology. The patent marks another milestone in our intellectual property strategy to fortify our competitive position both now and in the future,” CEO Will McGuire said in a news release.

Ra Medical Systems received a patent in February for a support catheter used with a small flexible liquid core catheter for laser ablation.