Ablation catheter having a shape memory stylet
AssigneeAdagio Medical, Inc.
InventorsAlexei Babkin, Pedram Nourian, Meital Mazor, Faysal S. Ahmed, David Cabrita
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Abstract
An ablation apparatus for creating a lesion in target tissue, the ablation apparatus having an ablation shaft including a handle, a first portion, an ablation portion, distal tip, at least one ablation energy delivery lumen, at least one ablation energy return lumen, and a stylet lumen that extends substantially along a length of the ablation shaft from the handle to at least the ablation portion. The ablation apparatus also includes a stylet that is capable of being inserted into the stylet lumen where the stylet is made of a shape-memory material.
Claims10
An ablation treatment method for creating a lesion in a target tissue in a body of a patient, the method comprising the following steps:
- performing freezing experiments to determine shape-setting heat treatments, wherein expansion of a test stylet is observed for the different shape-setting heat treatments;
- providing a plurality of candidate stylets wherein at least one candidate stylet is pre-programmed with an austenite finish (Af) transformation temperature based on the freezing experiments, and wherein the Af transformation temperature is set to prevent expansion of the stylet during freezing;
- providing a catheter comprising a catheter handle, an ablation shaft and a flexible distal ablation portion of the ablation shaft;
- advancing the ablation shaft to an area of interest within the body of the patient;
- choosing a stylet from the plurality of candidate stylets to use;
- inserting the chosen stylet through the catheter handle and into a hollow lumen of the ablation shaft until the distal portion of the stylet is in place within said flexible distal ablation portion of the ablation shaft,
- wherein, once in place, shape memory characteristics of the distal portion of the chosen stylet cause the distal portion of the chosen stylet to transform into its pre-set shape thereby causing the flexible distal ablation portion of the ablation shaft to transform into a shape corresponding to the distal portion of the chosen stylet;
- and
- proceeding with the ablation treatment to create the lesion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.