Method and apparatus for rapid and selective tissue ablation with cooling
AssigneeBoston Scientific Scimed, Inc.
InventorsSteven R. Mickelsen, Raju Viswanathan, Allan Zingeler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems, tools and methods are disclosed for the selective and rapid application of DC voltage to drive irreversible electroporation, with the system controller capable of being configured to apply voltages to independently selected subsets of electrodes and capable of generating at least one control signal to maintain the temperature near an electrode head within a desired range of values. Electrode clamp devices are also disclosed for generating electric fields to drive irreversible electroporation while modulating temperature to elevate the irreversible electroporation threshold utilizing a variety of means such as cooling fluid or solid state thermoelectric heat pumps.
Claims12
An apparatus, comprising:
- a thermoelectric cooling unit comprising:
- a first ceramic cover;
- a metal electrode abutting the first ceramic cover;
- a Peltier cooling module abutting the metal electrode;
- and
- a second ceramic cover abutting the Peltier cooling module;
- a voltage pulse generator configured to produce a pulsed voltage waveform;
- and
- an electrode controller configured to be operably coupled to the voltage pulse generator and a medical clamp including a plurality of electrodes, the electrode controller implemented in at least one of a memory or a processor, the electrode controller including a feedback module, a cooling module and a pulse delivery module, the feedback module configured to determine a temperature of a target tissue to which the medical clamp is coupled, the cooling module configured to produce a signal to the cooling unit of the medical clamp to maintain a portion of the target tissue at a target temperature, the pulse delivery module configured to deliver an output signal associated with the pulsed voltage waveform to the plurality of electrodes.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, at a feedback module of an electrode controller, a temperature signal associated with a temperature of a target tissue to which a medical clamp is coupled, the medical clamp including a plurality of electrodes abutting a plurality of first ceramic covers and a first arm and a second arm defining a volume to receive the target tissue, the first arm spaced apart from the second arm by a distance;
- producing a control signal based at least in part on the temperature of the target tissue;
- delivering the control signal to a cooling unit of the medical clamp to maintain a portion of the target tissue at a target temperature, wherein the cooling unit abuts at least one of the plurality of electrodes and at least one of a plurality of second ceramic covers;
- receiving a distance signal associated with the distance;
- adjusting a characteristic of the output signal based on the distance;
- and
- delivering an output signal associated with a pulsed voltage waveform to the plurality of electrodes when the target tissue is at the target temperature;
- wherein the delivering the output signal is such that the pulsed voltage waveform is greater than approximately one kilovolt.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, at a feedback module of an electrode controller, a temperature signal associated with a temperature of a target tissue to which a medical clamp is coupled, the medical clamp including a plurality of electrodes abutting a plurality of first ceramic covers, wherein the medical clamp includes a first arm and a second arm, the first arm and the second arm defining a volume to receive the target tissue, the first arm spaced apart from the second arm by a distance;
- producing a control signal based at least in part on the temperature of the target tissue;
- delivering the control signal to a cooling unit of the medical clamp to maintain a portion of the target tissue at a target temperature, wherein the cooling unit abuts at least one of the plurality of electrodes and at least one of a plurality of second ceramic covers;
- receiving a distance signal associated with the distance;
- adjusting a characteristic of an output signal based on the distance;
- and
- delivering the output signal associated with a pulsed voltage waveform to the plurality of electrodes when the target tissue is at the target temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.