Methods for laser treatment of soft tissue
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
- providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted tissue through an optical fiber, wherein the optical fiber terminates in a side-firing probe emitting the laser light in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber.
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Abstract
Methods are provided for treating prostate glands or other targeted soft tissue using a solid-state laser. The laser can be operated to generate a pulsed output beam having pulse durations of between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds. The output beam is delivered to the targeted tissue through an optical fiber, preferably terminating in a side-firing probe or diffusing tip. By operating the laser in a long-duration pulse mode, charring of the targeted tissue is initiated quickly, thereby increasing ablation rates and reducing overall procedure time.
121 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted tissue through an optical fiber, wherein the optical fiber terminates in a side-firing probe emitting the laser light in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted tissue, wherein the laser further comprises a frequency doubling element. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted tissue, further comprising the step of Q-switching the laser to produce a train of micropulses, each micropulse train collectively form a pulse. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted tissue;
wherein the pump radiation source is a laser diode.- View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted tissue;
wherein the pump radiation source is an arc lamp.- View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted soft tissue, and the laser light has an average power exceeding 20 watts, wherein the laser has a frequency doubling element. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light with a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source;
modulating the pump radiation source to cause the laser element to emit laser light having pulse duration between 0.1 and 500 milliseconds and pulse frequencies between 1 and 500 Hz; and
delivering the laser light to targeted soft tissue, and the laser light has an average power exceeding 20 watts, further comprising Q-switching the laser to produce a train of micropulses, each micropulse train collectively form said pulse. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A method for treating benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), comprising:
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providing a solid-state laser emitting light of a wavelength of 200 to 1000 nm having a laser element positioned to receive pump radiation from a pump radiation source and the laser has a beam quality (M2) that is less than or equal to 100 and delivering the laser light to prostate tissue. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method comprising:
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irradiating soft tissue of a body with coherent radiation from a laser having a pump radiation source that does not produce enough heat in a lasing element to create a significant amount of thermal lensing in the lasing element a wavelength such that the radiation is preferentially absorbed by the tissue rather than a fluid; and
a temperature that is generated by the lasing element that is low enough so that a number of modes of the radiation are few enough so that an average power density is high enough to ablate the tissue leaving less thermal damage than a 60 Watt laser emitting a wavelength near 532 nm. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
without being so high as to be absorbed by water, and without causing significant damage to tissue significantly deeper in the body than the tissue ablated.
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Specification