Shockwave catheter system with energy control
AssigneeShockwave Medical, Inc.
InventorsDoug Hakala, John M. Adams, Randy Holmberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system that breaks calcium in a liquid includes a catheter including first and second electrodes arranged to receive there-across a high electrical voltage at an initial low current. The high electrical voltage causes an electrical arc to form across the electrodes creating a gas bubble within the liquid, a high current to flow through the electrodes, and a mechanical shock wave. A power source provides the electrodes with the high electrical voltage at the initial current and terminates the high electrical voltage in response to the high current flow through the electrodes.
Claims19
A catheter for delivering shockwaves to a calcified lesion comprising:
- an elongated carrier;
- a pair of electrodes carried by the elongated carrier, said pair of electrodes being immersed in a conductive fluid;
- and
- a power source with a circuit coupled to the pair of electrodes for supplying voltage pulses to the pair of electrodes, said power source including at least one capacitor and at least one solid state switch, each of the voltage pulses being generated by controlling the at least one solid state switch to cause a charge stored on the at least one capacitor to be delivered to the pair of electrodes, each voltage pulse having sufficient energy to generate an arc in the conductive fluid and allowing current to flow across the pair of electrodes to produce a shock wave,
- wherein the power source includes at least one sensor for monitoring at least one parameter of the circuit that varies in response to each voltage pulse, and wherein for a given voltage pulse the power source controls the at least one solid state switch to terminate the delivery of the voltage pulse across the pair of electrodes in response to the at least one parameter reaching at least one predetermined value, the at least one predetermined value being selected to ensure the creation of the arc for the voltage pulse, wherein the power source controls the at least one solid state switch to terminate the delivery of the voltage pulse in order to prevent a remaining charge on the at least one capacitor from being delivered to the pair of electrodes thereby conserving electrode material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.