System for simultaneous unipolar multi-electrode ablation
First Claim
1. A system for ablating tissues, comprising:
- means for generating RF energy;
a probe comprising N separate electrodes, each one of the electrodes having a corresponding means for sensing the temperature of said one of the electrodes;
splitter means for splitting said RF energy from said generating means to said electrodes, said splitter means having N separate channels respectively coupled to said N electrodes; and
means for independently controlling said splitter means for independently controlling an individual temperature and thereby ablation of tissue at each of said electrodes by using closed loop feedback of the temperature sensed of each of said electrodes by independently regulating the amount of said RF energy to each of said electrodes individually.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system (2,4), method and splitter (6) for ablating tissue (15) using radiofrequency (RF) energy is disclosed. The system (2,4) ablates tissue (15) using unipolar RF energy simultaneously delivered to multiple electrodes (22A-22D) in one or more probes (20). This is carried out by the multiple channel RF splitter (6) that can independently control the RP energy delivered through each channel (18) to a respective electrode (22A-22D) in a continuous manner. Each electrode (22A-22D) has a corresponding temperature sensor or transducer (36A-36D) that is processed independently so that the amount of RF energy delivered to each electrode (22A-22D) can be varied dependent on the temperature of the electrode (22A-22D) so that the lesion size produced by each electrode (22A-22D) can be accurately controlled. Preferably, each probe (20) has a needle-like structure with a number of electrodes (22A-22D) separated by insulative material and is adapted to puncture tissue. Each channel (18) of the splitter (6) has circuitry for interrupting current delivered to the respective channel if a predetermined temperature or current level is exceeded.
-
Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A system for ablating tissues, comprising:
-
means for generating RF energy;
a probe comprising N separate electrodes, each one of the electrodes having a corresponding means for sensing the temperature of said one of the electrodes;
splitter means for splitting said RF energy from said generating means to said electrodes, said splitter means having N separate channels respectively coupled to said N electrodes; and
means for independently controlling said splitter means for independently controlling an individual temperature and thereby ablation of tissue at each of said electrodes by using closed loop feedback of the temperature sensed of each of said electrodes by independently regulating the amount of said RF energy to each of said electrodes individually. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
wherein said controlling means generates said control signal to independently interrupt delivery of said RF energy to said respective electrode when said meaurement signal exceeds a predetermined threshold condition.
-
-
11. A medical apparatus for treatment by radiofrequency (RF) ablation of tissue, said apparatus comprising;
-
an RF energy generator;
one or more probes each comprising a plurality of separate electrodes and corresponding temperature sensors for sensing the temperature of each of said electrodes, each of said temperature sensors being connected to a respective one of said electrodes;
a splitter for splitting RF energy of said RF energy generator, said splitter having a plurality of separate channels, wherein each of said electrodes is coupled to a respective one of said channels; and
a programmable controller coupled to said splitter for independently controlling an individual temperature and thereby ablation of tissue at each of said electrodes using closed loop feedback of the sensed temperature of each of said electrodes wherein the amount of said RF energy coupled to each of said electrodes is independently regulated by said programmable controller individually. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A method for ablating tissue, comprising the steps of:
-
generating RF energy;
providing a probe comprising N separate electrodes, each one of said electrodes having a corresponding means for sensing temperature of said one of said electrodes;
sensing the temperature of each of said electrodes using said temperature sensing means of said electrodes;
splitting said RF energy to said probe into N separate channels each being coupled to a corresponding one of said N electrodes; and
independently controlling the splitting of said RF energy to said electrodes for independently controlling an individual temperature and thereby ablation of tissue at each of said electrodes using closed loop feedback of the measured temperature of each of said electrodes independently by independently regulating the amount of said RF energy delivered to each of said electrodes. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
sensing at least one of the group consisting of the voltage, current, impedance and average power of the respective electrode; and
independently interrupting the delivery of said RF energy to said electrode if a predetermined threshold is exceeded by the sensed value.
-
-
27. A method for treatment by radiofrequency (RF) ablation of tissue, said method comprising the steps of:
-
generating RF energy;
providing one or more probes each comprising a plurality of separate electrodes and corresponding temperature sensors, each one of said temperature sensors being connected to a respective one of said electrodes;
measuring the temperature of each of said electrodes using said respective one of said temperature sensors;
splitting said RF energy into a plurality of separate channels, wherein each of said electrodes is coupled to a respective one of said plurality of channels; and
programmably controlling the splitting of said RF energy so as to independently control an individual temperature and thereby ablation of tissue at each of said electrodes using closed loop feedback of the measured temperature of each of said electrodes wherein the amount of said RF energy coupled to each of said electrodes is independently regulated. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
Specification