Techniques for heat-treating varicose veins
First Claim
1. Apparatus for treating a vein of a subject, comprising:
- a catheter having a distal end and a proximal portion, the distal end adapted to be placed within the varicose vein, and the proximal portion adapted to remain outside a body of the subject;
a heating element, disposed at the distal end of the catheter, and adapted to heat the vein;
a cooling element, adapted to be applied to an external surface of skin-above a vicinity of the heating element, and to apply cooling to the skin; and
a coupling element, adapted to remain outside the body, and to couple the cooling element to the proximal portion of the catheter.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for treating varicose veins includes a catheter (20) where the distal end is placed within a varicose vein and the proximal portion remains outside the body of the subject. A heating element (22) heats the vein. A cooling element (62) can be applied to an external surface of the skin above the vicinity of the heating element. A control unit (26) can drive the heating element to apply heat to the vein simultaneously. Alternatively, the control unit can apply a current to the heating element to resistively heat a resistive element. A method for treating a varicose vein includes inserting the elongated heating element into the vein, and driving the heating element to apply heat to the segment of vein simultaneously from the entire active heating portion.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. Apparatus for treating a vein of a subject, comprising:
- a catheter having a distal end and a proximal portion, the distal end adapted to be placed within the varicose vein, and the proximal portion adapted to remain outside a body of the subject;
a heating element, disposed at the distal end of the catheter, and adapted to heat the vein;
a cooling element, adapted to be applied to an external surface of skin-above a vicinity of the heating element, and to apply cooling to the skin; and
a coupling element, adapted to remain outside the body, and to couple the cooling element to the proximal portion of the catheter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- a catheter having a distal end and a proximal portion, the distal end adapted to be placed within the varicose vein, and the proximal portion adapted to remain outside a body of the subject;
Specification