Inducing desirable temperature effects on body tissue
First Claim
1. A method of treating a target tissue within a treatment area disposed about a body lumen, comprising:
- providing a catheter having a catheter body and an energy delivery portion mounted on the catheter body, wherein the energy delivery portion comprises a balloon having a plurality of electrodes spaced apart about a circumference of the balloon, the plurality of electrodes including a first electrode, a second electrode, a third electrode, and a fourth electrode;
inserting the energy delivery portion of the catheter into the body lumen, positioning the energy delivery portion adjacent the treatment area, and expanding the balloon so that the plurality of electrodes radially engage the body lumen and contact between the plurality of electrodes and the body lumen defines a plurality of energy delivery zones within the treatment area, wherein the treatment area includes the target tissue and a healthy tissue;
delivering energy to the body lumen at the plurality of energy delivery zones, each of which is small compared to the treatment area so that the plurality of energy delivery zones are separated about the balloon, wherein the delivering energy comprises energizing the first, second, third, and fourth electrodes, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprise a plurality of electrode pairs, wherein the delivering energy further comprises energizing selected electrode pairs of said plurality of electrode pairs with a bipolar energy, wherein the bipolar energy is delivered from the selected electrode pairs according to a formula as follows;
power=b*x^2*L*(t^(−
0.59))where b ranges between 0.2 and 0.6, x is an inner edge-to-edge spacing between the electrodes of the selected electrode pairs in millimeters, L is a length of the electrodes of the selected electrode pairs in millimeters, power is in Watts, and t is time of the bipolar energy delivery in seconds, wherein energizing a first electrode pair of the selected electrode pairs comprising the first and second electrodes heats the healthy tissue without therapeutically heating the target tissue and energizing a second electrode pair of the selected electrode pairs comprising the third and fourth electrodes heats the target tissue sufficiently to efficaciously alter the target tissue without causing sufficient thermal damage to the healthy tissue to induce a long-term occlusive response, and wherein the first, second, third, and fourth electrodes are energized without identifying which of the plurality of electrodes heats the target tissue.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems are disclosed for treating diseased tissue by gentle heating. The method induces vasodilation on tissue disposed about an lumen having both healthy tissue and diseased tissue. The method includes coupling a probe surface to the luminal tissue at a target location and transmitting desired quantities of tissue remodeling energy from the coupled probe into each of a plurality of discrete remodeling zones in the luminal tissue so that the tissue remodeling energy heats the plurality of remodeling zones, the remodeling energy being configured to avoid muscular contraction and inhibit both acute and long-term occlusion of the lumen.
1569 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of treating a target tissue within a treatment area disposed about a body lumen, comprising:
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providing a catheter having a catheter body and an energy delivery portion mounted on the catheter body, wherein the energy delivery portion comprises a balloon having a plurality of electrodes spaced apart about a circumference of the balloon, the plurality of electrodes including a first electrode, a second electrode, a third electrode, and a fourth electrode; inserting the energy delivery portion of the catheter into the body lumen, positioning the energy delivery portion adjacent the treatment area, and expanding the balloon so that the plurality of electrodes radially engage the body lumen and contact between the plurality of electrodes and the body lumen defines a plurality of energy delivery zones within the treatment area, wherein the treatment area includes the target tissue and a healthy tissue; delivering energy to the body lumen at the plurality of energy delivery zones, each of which is small compared to the treatment area so that the plurality of energy delivery zones are separated about the balloon, wherein the delivering energy comprises energizing the first, second, third, and fourth electrodes, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprise a plurality of electrode pairs, wherein the delivering energy further comprises energizing selected electrode pairs of said plurality of electrode pairs with a bipolar energy, wherein the bipolar energy is delivered from the selected electrode pairs according to a formula as follows;
power=b*x^2*L*(t^(−
0.59))where b ranges between 0.2 and 0.6, x is an inner edge-to-edge spacing between the electrodes of the selected electrode pairs in millimeters, L is a length of the electrodes of the selected electrode pairs in millimeters, power is in Watts, and t is time of the bipolar energy delivery in seconds, wherein energizing a first electrode pair of the selected electrode pairs comprising the first and second electrodes heats the healthy tissue without therapeutically heating the target tissue and energizing a second electrode pair of the selected electrode pairs comprising the third and fourth electrodes heats the target tissue sufficiently to efficaciously alter the target tissue without causing sufficient thermal damage to the healthy tissue to induce a long-term occlusive response, and wherein the first, second, third, and fourth electrodes are energized without identifying which of the plurality of electrodes heats the target tissue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of treating a target tissue within a treatment area disposed about a body lumen, comprising:
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providing a catheter having a catheter body and an energy delivery portion mounted on the catheter body, wherein the energy delivery portion comprises a balloon having a plurality of electrodes spaced apart about a circumference of the balloon; inserting the energy delivery portion of the catheter into the body lumen, positioning the energy delivery portion adjacent the treatment area, and expanding the balloon so that the plurality of electrodes radially engage the body lumen and contact between the plurality of electrodes and the body lumen defines a plurality of separate energy delivery zones within the treatment area, wherein the treatment area includes the target tissue and a healthy tissue; delivering energy to the body lumen at the plurality of energy delivery zones, each of which is small compared to the treatment area so that each of the plurality of energy delivery zones are separated about the balloon, wherein delivering energy comprises energizing the plurality of electrodes so as to therapeutically heat the target tissue through the healthy tissue so that the target tissue is heated sufficiently to efficaciously alter the target tissue without causing sufficient thermal damage to the healthy tissue, wherein at least some electrodes of the plurality heat the healthy tissue without therapeutically heating the target tissue, wherein the plurality of electrodes are energized without identifying which of the plurality of electrodes heat the target tissue, wherein the plurality of electrodes are spaced apart around the circumference, wherein the delivering energy further comprises energizing selected electrode pairs of the plurality of electrodes with a bipolar energy, and wherein the bipolar energy is delivered from the selected electrode pairs of the plurality of electrodes according to a formula as follows;
power=b*x^2*L*(t^(—
0.59))where b ranges between 0.2 and 0.6, x is an inner edge-to-edge spacing between electrodes of the selected electrode pairs in millimeters, L is a length of the electrodes of the selected electrode pairs in millimeters, power is in Watts, and t is time of the bipolar energy delivery in seconds. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification