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AssigneeProstaLund Operations AB
InventorMagnus Bolmsjo
Estimating the term…
A thermotherapy catheter for heat treating the prostate gland includes an O-ring positioned within a chamber between an outer tube and an interior heat generation device guide tube. The O-ring supports a distal end portion of a probe guide tube at a desired acute angle so that a temperature probe can be advanced from the end of the probe guide tube into the prostate gland at a predetermined desired acute angle for calculating tissue heating and tissue necrosis information from temperature sensors located on a distal end of the temperature probe. The O-ring also separates a still liquid chamber from a circulatory flow path so that heated liquid surrounding the generation device is applied effectively to heat the prostate gland, while the circulating cooling fluid effectively removes heat from a feed cable which supplies energy to the heat generation device.
In a thermotherapy catheter comprising an elongated outer tube extending from a proximal location of the catheter to a distal end of the catheter, an device guide tube positioned within the outer tube and separated from the outer tube by an annulus-like channel and extending from the proximal location to the distal end, the device guide tube defining an interior space for accepting a heat generating device and a connected to a feed cable, the device guide tube positioning the heat generating device adjacent to the distal end of the catheter with the feed cable extending proximally from the heat generation device through the device guide tube to the proximal location of the catheter, the feed cable separated from the device guide tube by an annulus-like passageway, an opening extending through the device guide tube to create a flow path between the chamber and the passageway at a predetermined location located near a distal end of the feed cable, the opening permitting circulation of a cooling liquid within the chamber from the proximal location of the catheter and through the opening and into the passageway and from the passageway to the proximal location of the catheter, a probe guide tube located within the channel and extending from the proximal location to an exit position located proximal from the distal end of the catheter at approximately the location of the connection of the heat generation device to the feed cable, the probe guide tube defining an interior space within which to receive an elongated temperature probe which includes a tip end which is movable out of the probe guide tube at the exit position, the probe guide tube including a distal end portion which angles transversely within the chamber to establish an acute angle relative to the longitudinal extent of the catheter which the tip end of the temperature probe moves out of the catheter at the exit position;
A method of heat treating a prostate gland using a catheter, the prostate gland surrounding a prosthetic urethra portion of a urethra which extends from a bladder to an exterior of a male human, the catheter comprising an elongated outer tube extending from a proximal location of the catheter to a distal end of the catheter, an device guide tube positioned within the outer tube and separated from the outer tube by an annulus-like channel and extending from the proximal location to the distal end, the device guide tube defining an interior space, a probe guide tube located within the channel and extending from the proximal location to an exit position located proximal from the distal end of the catheter, the probe guide tube including a distal end portion which angles transversely within the chamber to establish an acute angle relative to the longitudinal extent of the catheter, the probe guide tube defining an interior space, an opening extending through the device guide tube between the interior of the device guide tube and the chamber at approximately the location of the exit position, and a contact member positioned within the chamber at a position distal of the opening and extending between the device guide tube and the outer tube, the contact member further positioned to contact the distal end portion of the probe guide tube at a location adjacent the exit position;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.