Congestive obstruction pulmonary disease (COPD)

• US 10,813,688 B2
• Filed: 11/23/2015
• Issued: 10/27/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AngioDynamics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AngioDynamics, Inc.
• Inventors: Pearson, Robert, Ortiz, Mark, Callas, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Peffley, Michael F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zink, Amanda L
• Application Number:
  US14/948,696
• Publication Number:
  US 20160074114A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,800 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/1477 Needle-like probes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/1492 having a flexible, catheter-like structure, e.g. for heart ablation A61B18/1477 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00176 Two pulses, e.g. second pulse having an effect different from the first one
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00214 Expandable means emitting energy, e.g. by elements carried thereon
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/0022 Balloons
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00541 Lung or bronchi
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00577 Ablation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00613 Irreversible electroporation reversible electroporation A61N1/327
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00898 Alarms or notifications created in response to an abnormal condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/1425 Needle
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/10 Balloon catheters A61M25/0125 takes precedence; embolectomy A61B17/22032; retractors A61B17/02; inflatable balloons for placing stents or stent-grafts A61F2/958 ; stomach balloons for treatment of obesity A61F5/0003; oesophagal tubes A61J15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0519 Endotracheal electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/327 for enhancing the absorption properties of tissue, e.g. by electroporation

Abstract

A method for treating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or chronic bronchitis to alleviate the discomforts of breathing by using non-thermal electroporation energy to ablate diseased portions of the lung including the bronchus, airways and alveoli which, in effect, opens the restrictive diseased portions thereby maximizing the overall surface area thereof causing improved airflow and uninhibited breathing.

Claims

1. A system for ablating cells of a human body, comprising:

at least two electrodes to operably couple to a generator, the at least two electrodes to be spaced apart from one another near a target area;

the generator programmed to apply electrical pulses of at least 6 kV to each of the at least two electrodes to create an electric field within the target area to ablate the cells in the target area by irreversible electroporation.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the generator is programmed to apply electrical pulses sufficient to create a voltage gradient of at least 1,500V/cm between the at least two electrodes.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the generator is programmed to apply a first group of electrical pulses comprising at least 10 individual electrical pulses with each individual electrical pulse at least 20 microseconds long.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the generator is programmed to apply a second group of electrical pulses comprising at least 10 individual electrical pulses with each individual electrical pulse at least 20 microseconds long.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the generator is programmed to apply a gap of up to 10 seconds between the first group of electrical pulses and the second group of electrical pulses.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the generator is programmed to operate up to 50 Amps.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein a first electrode is on a first probe and a second electrode is on a second probe.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two electrodes are on a bipolar probe.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two electrodes are comprised of deployable tines.

10. A method of treating a human body by killing cells, comprising:

positioning an energy delivery device comprising at least two electrodes spaced apart from one another near a target area containing cells to be killed in the human body;

applying electrical pulses of at least 6 kV to each of the at least two electrodes; and

delivering the electrical pulses at a voltage gradient of at least 1,500V/cm between the at least two electrodes, thereby killing the cells in the target area using irreversible electroporation.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

delivering a first group of electrical pulses delivered to each of the at least two electrodes, the first group of electrical pulses comprising at least 10 individual electrical pulses with each electrical pulse at least 20 microseconds long.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

delivering a second group of electrical pulses delivered to each of the at least two electrodes, the second group of electrical pulses comprising at least 10 individual electrical pulses with each electrical pulse at least 20 microseconds long.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

pausing for a gap of up to 10 seconds between the first group of electrical pulses and the second group of electrical pulses.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least two electrodes are placed on a single bipolar probe.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein a first electrode is placed on a first probe and a second electrode is placed on a second probe.

16. A method of treating a human body by killing cells, comprising:

positioning a first electrode probe near a target area containing cells to be killed in the human body;

positioning a second electrode probe near the target area, the second electrode probe is positioned at least 4 cm apart from the first electrode probe;

applying, by a generator, electrical pulses of at least 6 kV to each of the at least two electrodes;

delivering the electrical pulses thereby killing the cells in the target area using irreversible electroporation.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first electrode probe has a positive polarity and the second electrode probe has a negative polarity.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the generator has a voltage range of 100V to at least 6 kV.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the voltage of the generator may be adjusted in varying intervals during the treatment.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein each interval is up to 100V in total voltage delivered.