Apparatus for ablating turbinates

An apparatus for ablating a selected portion of a nasal concha comprising:

• a catheter having a distal portion with a dimension configured for positioning the catheter distal portion through a nostril of a patient into a nasal meatus adjacent a surface of a nasal concha;
• an energy delivery device coupleable to an energy source and positioned at the catheter distal portion for delivering ablative energy to the surface of the nasal concha;
• and
• an insulator positioned to cause delivery of ablative energy to a selected portion of a nasal concha while insulating other tissue forming the nasal meatus from the ablative energy.

An apparatus for ablating an internal section of a nasal concha comprising:

• a catheter having a distal portion with a dimension configured for positioning the catheter distal portion through a nostril of a patient into a nasal meatus adjacent a surface of a nasal concha;
• an expandable member positioned at the catheter distal portion;
• an energy delivery device coupleable to an energy source and positioned at the catheter distal portion for delivering ablative energy to the surface of the nasal concha;
• a lumen positioned within the catheter for delivering a medium into the expandable member to expand the expandable member to adjacent a surface of the nasal concha;
• and
• a medium source for delivering medium of a sufficiently low temperature to cool the surface of the nasal concha during energy delivery so as to prevent ablation of tissue adjacent the surface of the nasal concha.