Radiofrequency ablation with independently controllable ground pad conductors
First Claim
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1. A radio frequency ablation system comprising:
- at least one ablation electrode for insertion into a patient at an ablation site;
at least two ground pad conductors for topical application to a portion of the patient'"'"'s skin; and
a power supply independently applying a radio frequency voltage between the at least one ablation electrode and the at least two ground pad conductors to ablate tissue at the ablation site;
wherein the power supply switches an application of the voltage first between the at least one ablation electrode and a first ground pad conductor, and second between the at least one ablation electrode and a second ground pad conductor according to a predetermined time schedule.
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Abstract
A radiofrequency ablation system provides multiple ground pads and active control of current flow through the ground pads to provide improved power sharing at the tissue near the ground pads reducing risk of patient skin burns for higher power ablation generators.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A radio frequency ablation system comprising:
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at least one ablation electrode for insertion into a patient at an ablation site; at least two ground pad conductors for topical application to a portion of the patient'"'"'s skin; and a power supply independently applying a radio frequency voltage between the at least one ablation electrode and the at least two ground pad conductors to ablate tissue at the ablation site; wherein the power supply switches an application of the voltage first between the at least one ablation electrode and a first ground pad conductor, and second between the at least one ablation electrode and a second ground pad conductor according to a predetermined time schedule. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A radiofrequency ablation power supply comprising:
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an electrical connector accepting a mating connector to an ablation electrode for insertion into a patient at an ablation site; at least two additional electrical connectors accepting mating connectors for at least two ground pad conductors for topical application to a portion of the patient'"'"'s skin; independent power regulation circuitry controlling the power applied to tissue at the ablation site, wherein the power applied to the tissue at the ablation site is a function of the current passing through a first ground pad conductor and the current passing through a second ground pad conductor; a clock circuit controlling a switching of the power regulation circuitry according to a predetermined time schedule; and a power source configured for regulation by the independent power regulation circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of radiofrequency ablation comprising the steps of:
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(a) inserting at least one ablation electrode into a patient at an ablation site; (b) attaching at least two ground pad conductors in electrical communication with a portion of the patient'"'"'s skin; and (c) applying a radiofrequency voltage between the ablation electrode and ground pad conductors to ablate tissue at the ablation site while independently adjusting a current flow at each of the ground pad conductors to reduce risk of skin burns; wherein the radiofrequency voltage is switched according to a fixed periodic schedule from between the at least one ablation electrode and a first ground pad conductor to between the at least one ablation electrode and a second ground pad conductor. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification