METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATMENT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION
First Claim
1. A tissue imaging and treatment system, comprising:
- a deployment catheter defining at least one lumen therethrough;
a barrier or membrane projecting distally from the deployment catheter and defining an open area therein, wherein the open area is in fluid communication with the at least one lumen;
a visualization element disposed within or along the barrier or membrane for visualizing tissue adjacent to the open area; and
an ablation energy transmitting surface positionable to ablate tissue adjacent to or contained within the open area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for the treatment of atrial fibrillation are described herein where tissue to be ablated may be monitored under direct visualization. Such a system may include a deployment catheter and an attached imaging hood deployable into an expanded configuration. In use, the imaging hood is placed against or adjacent to the tissue to be imaged in a body lumen that is normally filled with an opaque bodily fluid such as blood. A translucent or transparent fluid can be pumped into the imaging hood until the fluid displaces any blood leaving a clear region of tissue to be imaged via an imaging element in the deployment catheter. An ablation probe may be advanced into the contained region where the tissue may be ablated and monitored for changes in color as well as appropriate positioning.
318 Citations
97 Claims
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1. A tissue imaging and treatment system, comprising:
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a deployment catheter defining at least one lumen therethrough;
a barrier or membrane projecting distally from the deployment catheter and defining an open area therein, wherein the open area is in fluid communication with the at least one lumen;
a visualization element disposed within or along the barrier or membrane for visualizing tissue adjacent to the open area; and
an ablation energy transmitting surface positionable to ablate tissue adjacent to or contained within the open area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A tissue imaging and treatment system for treating a tissue region within a heart, the heart having a chamber, the chamber including a tissue surface and containing blood, the system comprising:
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a catheter body having a lumen;
a visualization element disposed adjacent the catheter body, the visualization element having a field of view;
a translucent fluid source in fluid communication with the lumen; and
a barrier or membrane extendable from the catheter body to localize, between the visualization element and the field of view, displacement of blood by translucent fluid that flows from the lumen; and
an ablation energy transmitting surface positionable for ablating the tissue within the field of view. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method for intravascularly treating a tissue region within a body lumen, comprising:
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positioning an open area of a barrier or membrane against or adjacent to the tissue region to be treated;
displacing an opaque bodily fluid with a translucent fluid from an open area defined by the barrier or membrane and the tissue region;
visualizing the tissue region within the open area through the translucent fluid; and
ablating at least a portion of the tissue region within the open area. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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80. A method for treating a target tissue of a heart of a patient, the target tissue underlying an intracardiac heart tissue surface region within a chamber of the heart, the method comprising:
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optically imaging the tissue surface region;
ablating the target tissue; and
monitoring tissue response to the ablation using the optical imaging while the heart is pumping blood. - View Dependent Claims (81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96)
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97. A system for treating a target tissue of the heart of a patient, the target tissue underlying an intracardiac heart tissue surface region within a chamber of the heart, the method comprising:
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an intracardiac catheter having a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one lumen;
an optical imaging element advanceable distally using the catheter into the chamber of the heart;
an energy transmitting surface advanceable distally using the catheter into alignment with the tissue surface region for ablation of the target tissue; and
an imaging fluid flow path extendable distally from a translucent fluid source, through the catheter, and toward the tissue surface region, the extended flow path encompassing the optical imaging element and the aligned energy transmitting surface so as to inhibiting persistence of blood within a field of view of the imaging element when optically directing the ablation while the heart is pumping the blood.
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Specification