Methods of detecting and treating back pain
AssigneeRelievant Medsystems, Inc.
InventorBrian W. Donovan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Described herein are various implementations of systems and methods for accessing and modulating tissue (for example, systems and methods for accessing and ablating nerves or other tissue within or surrounding a vertebral body to treat chronic lower back pain). Assessment of vertebral endplate degeneration or defects (e.g., pre-Modic changes) to facilitate identification of treatment sites and protocols are also provided in several embodiments. Several embodiments comprise the use of biomarkers to confirm or otherwise assess ablation, pain relief, efficacy of treatment, etc. Some embodiments include robotic elements for, as an example, facilitating robotically-controlled access, navigation, imaging, and/or treatment.
Claims21
(canceled)
A method of detecting and treating back pain of a subject, the method comprising:
- identifying a candidate vertebral body for treatment based on a determination that the vertebral body exhibits one or more symptoms associated with vertebral endplate degeneration or defects,
- wherein the determination is based on obtaining one or more biomarkers from the subject,
- wherein the one or more biomarkers correlate with pathophysiological processes associated with vertebral endplate degeneration or defects;
- and
- ablating a basivertebral nerve within the identified candidate vertebral body by applying a thermal treatment dose to a location within the vertebral body.
A method of detecting and treating back pain of a subject, the method comprising:
- identifying a candidate vertebral body for treatment based on a determination that the vertebral body exhibits one or more symptoms associated with vertebral endplate degeneration or defects,
- wherein the determination is based on obtaining one or more biomarkers from the subject,
- wherein the one or more biomarkers correlate with pathophysiological processes associated with vertebral endplate degeneration or defects;
- and
- ablating one or more intraosseous nerves within the identified candidate vertebral body by applying a thermal treatment dose to a location within the vertebral body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.