Apparatus and methods for cardiac ablation
First Claim
1. A surgical clamp having a proximal end for forming a cardiac lesion, the clamp comprising:
- a first jaw including a first tissue-ablating element disposed to selectively ablate tissue in proximity thereto; and
a second jaw detachably coupled to the first jaw at a location near a proximal end of the first jaw and adjustable in distance therefrom.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An adjustable surgical clamp including one or more ablation elements creates a circular lesion in a first operating mode and a linear lesion in a second operating mode. A “box” lesion surrounding all four pulmonary veins may be formed by using the clamp to create two complimentary C-shaped lesions about pairs of the veins. A thermochromic liquid crystal strip that changes color at a tissue-ablating threshold temperature may be mounted on the surgical clamp to monitor temperature of the ablated tissue. Two microwave antennae may be positioned on the jaws of the clamp relative to each other to produce a combined substantially uniform field of tissue-ablating energy between the jaws.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A surgical clamp having a proximal end for forming a cardiac lesion, the clamp comprising:
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a first jaw including a first tissue-ablating element disposed to selectively ablate tissue in proximity thereto; and
a second jaw detachably coupled to the first jaw at a location near a proximal end of the first jaw and adjustable in distance therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A surgical procedure for forming a lesion on a patient'"'"'s heart using a surgical clamp including two jaws, each jaw including an ablative element disposed along the length of the jaw, the procedure comprising:
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forming an incision;
advancing the surgical clamp through the incision toward a surgical site;
positioning the surgical clamp adjacent to a portion of the patient'"'"'s left atrium;
enclosing between the pair of jaws a portion of the ostia of a first pair of the patient'"'"'s pulmonary veins;
closing the jaws of the clamp and applying ablative energy to each of the ablative elements to form a first substantially continuous lesion;
repositioning the clamp to enclose between the pair of jaws the ostia of a second pair of the patient'"'"'s pulmonary veins closing the clamp and applying ablative energy to each of the ablative elements to form a second substantially continuous lesion; and
forming at least one intermediate lesion between the substantially continuous first lesion and the second substantially continuous lesion surrounding a plurality of the patient'"'"'s pulmonary veins. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A surgical procedure for forming a plurality of lesions on a patient'"'"'s heart using a single surgical clamp including a first and second jaw, each jaw including an ablative element disposed along the length of the jaw, the procedure comprising:
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forming an incision;
advancing the surgical clamp through the incision toward a surgical site;
positioning the surgical clamp on a first portion of tissue at the surgical site;
enclosing the first portion of tissue between the jaws;
closing the jaws and applying ablative energy to each of the ablative elements to form a substantially continuous lesion in the enclosed portion of tissue;
configuring the second jaw away from the first jaw to facilitate operation of the first jaw independent of the second jaw on a second portion of tissue at the surgical site;
positioning the first jaw on the second portion of tissue; and
forming a linear lesion on the second portion of tissue responsive to the application of ablative energy to the ablative element included in the first jaw. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An ablation apparatus comprising:
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a first elongated microwave antenna for forming a first electromagnetic field along the length thereof;
a second elongated microwave antenna for forming a second electromagnetic field along the length thereof; and
an element supporting the first and the second antennae relative to each other to produce a substantially uniform combined tissue-ablating field along the lengths thereof responsive to energization thereof. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A surgical clamp for forming a cardiac lesion, the clamp comprising:
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first and second jaws, each including a tissue-ablating element positionable at a surgical site and disposed to selectively ablate adjacent tissue;
an attachment portion supporting the first and second jaws in clamping configuration and dispose to selectively displace the second jaw from the clamping configuration for isolating the first jaws to ablate tissue adjacent thereto. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification