Ablation probe systems
AssigneeTriAgenics, Inc.
InventorLeigh E. Colby
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ablation probe tip 100 having a shaft 102 with an insertion end 104 and an annular aperture 120 near the insertion end 104. A center of ablation 124 is located within the shaft 102 and surrounded by the annular aperture shaft 102. The ablation probe tip 100 may be part of an ablation probe system 50 that includes an ablation source 60 that provides ablation means 62 to the ablation probe tip 100. The center of ablation 124 is a focal region from which the ablation means 62 radiates through the annular aperture 120 to form an ablation zone 150, 160, 170. The system 50 has at least one intra-operative control selected from the group of: ablation zone positioning control, ablation zone shaping control, ablation center control, ablation zone temperature control, guided ablation volume/diameter control, and power loading control.
Claims34
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna having an annular outer conductor, a heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding said annular outer conductor, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation, said coaxial antenna being a near field antenna from which microwaves radiate in a noncoherent fashion;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (d) said near field antenna preventing said center of ablation from migrating up said shaft away from said insertion end.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna having an annular outer conductor, a heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding said annular outer conductor, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation, said coaxial antenna being a near field antenna from which microwaves radiate in a noncoherent fashion;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (d) said near field antenna having a predetermined shape selected from the group consisting of oblate, spherical, and oblong.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna having an annular outer conductor, a heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding said annular outer conductor, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation, said coaxial antenna being a near field antenna from which microwaves radiate in a noncoherent fashion;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (d) said center of ablation is a stationary center of ablation.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna, an annular heat transfer layer partially surrounding said coaxial antenna, said heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding an annular outer conductor of said coaxial antenna, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (d) said ablation zone having a predetermined power loading density in said ablation zone.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna, an annular heat transfer layer partially surrounding said coaxial antenna, said heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding an annular outer conductor of said coaxial antenna, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (d) said ablation zone having a predetermined peak temperature in said ablation zone.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture;
- (d) an annular heat transfer layer surrounding said coaxial antenna and spaced from said insertion end such that said annular aperture is between said annular heat transfer layer and said insertion end, said heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding said annular outer conductor, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation;
- (e) said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (f) said ablation zone having a predetermined shape selected from the group consisting of oblate, spherical, and oblong.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna, an annular heat transfer layer partially surrounding said coaxial antenna, said heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding an annular outer conductor of said coaxial antenna, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (d) said ablation zone having an annular aperture and a power loading density in said ablation zone, said annular aperture and said power loading density selected from the group consisting of:
- (i) a short annular aperture and high power loading;
- (ii) a medium annular aperture and medium power loading;
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- (iii) a long annular aperture and low power loading.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna, an annular heat transfer layer partially surrounding said coaxial antenna, said heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding an annular outer conductor of said coaxial antenna, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (d) said ablation zone having an annular aperture and a peak temperature in said ablation zone, said annular aperture and said peak temperature selected from the group consisting of:
- (i) a short annular aperture and high peak temperature;
- (ii) a medium annular aperture and medium peak temperature;
- and
- (iii) a long annular aperture and low peak temperature.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in at least one outer layer of said coaxial antenna toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said coaxial antenna and surrounded by said annular aperture, said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
- (d) an annular heat transfer layer surrounding said coaxial antenna, said annular heat transfer layer having an annular edge that is the closest part of said annular heat transfer layer to said annular aperture, said annular edge spaced from said insertion end such that said annular aperture is between said annular heat transfer layer and said insertion end, said heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding an annular outer conductor of said coaxial antenna, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation;
- (e) an aperture offset, said aperture offset being a distance between said center of ablation and said annular edge of said annular heat transfer layer;
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- (f) said ablation zone having a predetermined shape determined by said aperture offset, such that a relatively short length aperture offset causes said ablation zone to be oblate, a relatively long length aperture offset causes said ablation zone to be oblong, and a medium length aperture offset causes said ablation zone to be spherical.
An ablation probe tip having a shaft with an insertion end, said ablation probe tip receiving ablation means from an ablation source, said ablation probe tip for ablating targeted tissue from within, said ablation probe tip comprising:
- (a) said shaft including a coaxial antenna, said coaxial antenna comprising:
- (i) an inner conductor;
- (ii) an annular dielectric insulator layer surrounding said inner conductor;
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- (iii) an annular outer conductor surrounding said annular dielectric insulator layer;
- (b) an annular aperture defined in said annular outer conductor toward said insertion end;
- (c) a center of ablation located within said inner conductor and surrounded by said annular aperture;
- (d) an annular heat transfer layer surrounding said coaxial antenna and spaced from said insertion end such that said annular aperture is between said annular heat transfer layer and said insertion end, said heat transfer layer at least partially annularly surrounding said annular outer conductor, the space between said heat transfer layer and said annular outer conductor is free from insulation;
- (e) an annular tip cover at said insertion end, said annular tip cover surrounding and covering an end of said coaxial antenna and said annular aperture;
- (f) said center of ablation being a focal region from which said ablation means radiates through said annular aperture to form an ablation zone;
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- (g) said ablation zone having a predetermined shape selected from the group consisting of oblate, spherical, and oblong.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.