Catheter apparatuses having expandable baskets for renal neuromodulation and associated systems and methods
First Claim
1. A method for catheter-based renal denervation of a human patient, the method comprising:
- intravascularly positioning a first catheter having a first expandable basket in a low-profile delivery configuration within a first renal artery of the patient and proximate to renal nerves innervating a first kidney of the patient,wherein the first expandable basket is sized and shaped for the first renal artery, and wherein the first expandable basket comprises a plurality of first electrodes arranged thereon,transforming the first expandable basket from the delivery configuration to a treatment configuration such that the first electrodes on the first expandable basket are in contact with an inner wall of the first renal artery;
attenuating neural communication along the renal nerves innervating the first kidney via radio frequency (RF) energy from the first electrodes;
intravascularly positioning a second catheter having a second expandable basket in a low-profile delivery configuration within a second renal artery of the patient and proximate to renal nerves innervating a second kidney of the patient,wherein the second expandable basket is sized and shaped for the second renal artery, and wherein the second expandable basket comprises a plurality of second electrodes arranged thereon;
transforming the second expandable basket from the delivery configuration to a treatment configuration such that the plurality of second electrodes on the second expandable basket are in contact with an inner wall of the second renal artery; and
attenuating neural communication along the renal nerves innervating the second kidney via RF energy from the second electrodes,wherein attenuating neural communication along the renal nerves innervating the first kidney and the renal nerves innervating the second kidney results in a therapeutically beneficial reduction in blood pressure in the patient.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for treating hypertension, e.g., via a pulsed electric field, via a stimulation electric field, via localized drug delivery, via high frequency ultrasound, via thermal techniques, etc. Such neuromodulation may effectuate irreversible electroporation or electrofusion, necrosis and/or inducement of apoptosis, alteration of gene expression, action potential attenuation or blockade, changes in cytokine up-regulation and other conditions in target neural fibers. In some embodiments, neuromodulation is applied to neural fibers that contribute to renal function. In some embodiments, such neuromodulation is performed in a bilateral fashion. Bilateral renal neuromodulation may provide enhanced therapeutic effect in some patients as compared to renal neuromodulation performed unilaterally, i.e., as compared to renal neuromodulation performed on neural tissue innervating a single kidney.
809 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A method for catheter-based renal denervation of a human patient, the method comprising:
-
intravascularly positioning a first catheter having a first expandable basket in a low-profile delivery configuration within a first renal artery of the patient and proximate to renal nerves innervating a first kidney of the patient, wherein the first expandable basket is sized and shaped for the first renal artery, and wherein the first expandable basket comprises a plurality of first electrodes arranged thereon, transforming the first expandable basket from the delivery configuration to a treatment configuration such that the first electrodes on the first expandable basket are in contact with an inner wall of the first renal artery; attenuating neural communication along the renal nerves innervating the first kidney via radio frequency (RF) energy from the first electrodes; intravascularly positioning a second catheter having a second expandable basket in a low-profile delivery configuration within a second renal artery of the patient and proximate to renal nerves innervating a second kidney of the patient, wherein the second expandable basket is sized and shaped for the second renal artery, and wherein the second expandable basket comprises a plurality of second electrodes arranged thereon; transforming the second expandable basket from the delivery configuration to a treatment configuration such that the plurality of second electrodes on the second expandable basket are in contact with an inner wall of the second renal artery; and attenuating neural communication along the renal nerves innervating the second kidney via RF energy from the second electrodes, wherein attenuating neural communication along the renal nerves innervating the first kidney and the renal nerves innervating the second kidney results in a therapeutically beneficial reduction in blood pressure in the patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method for treatment of a hypertensive human patient, the method comprising:
-
positioning a catheter having an expandable distal basket within a first renal artery of the patient; at least partially ablating nerves along the first renal artery via electrical energy from electrodes carried by the expandable distal basket; positioning the catheter having the expandable distal basket within a second renal artery of the patient; and at least partially ablating nerves along the second renal artery via electrical energy from the electrodes carried by the expandable distal basket, wherein at least partially ablating the nerves along the first renal artery and the nerves along the second renal artery results in a therapeutically beneficial reduction in blood pressure in the hypertensive patient. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
-
Specification