Systems and methods for controlling tissue ablation using multiple temperature sensing elements

A tissue ablation system comprising

• an ablating element comprising at least one structure supporting at least two zones for emitting ablating energy E(J), where J=2 to N, N being the total number of zones,
• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each zone E(J) for measuring a temperature condition localized with respect to the zone E(J), the localized temperature condition being designated TEMP(J),
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to the zones E(J) including a switching element to convey ablating energy individually to each zone E(J) in a power pulse having a duty cycle DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) and an amplitude AMP.sub.E(J), DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) being set to be essentially the same for all E(J), wherein the power P.sub.E(J) delivered to each zone E(J) is expressed as follows:
• P.sub.E(J) .about.AMP.sub.E(J).sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J)
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element including
• means for periodically reading the temperature condition measured by each temperature sensing element TEMP(J),
• means for comparing the read temperature condition TEMP(J) to a desired temperature condition TEMP.sub.SET to generate a signal SIGNAL(J) based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and the processing element including control means for causing the power controller to vary the power pulse to each zone E(J) based upon SIGNAL(J) by varying AMP.sub.E(J) while keeping DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) essentially the same for all E(J), to maintain TEMP(J).apprxeq.TEMP.sub.SET for all E(J).

A tissue ablation system comprising

• an ablating element comprising at least one structure supporting at least two zones for emitting ablating energy E(J), where J=2 to N, N being the total number of zones,
• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each zone E(J) for measuring a temperature condition localized with respect to the zone E(J), the localized temperature condition being designated TEMP(J),
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to the zones E(J) including a switching element to convey ablating energy individually to each zone E(J) in a power pulse having a duty cycle DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) and an amplitude AMP.sub.E(J), AMP.sub.E(J) being set to be essentially the same for all E(J), wherein the power P.sub.E(J) delivered to each zone E(J) is expressed as follows:
• P.sub.E(J) .about.AMP.sub.E(J).sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J)
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element including
• means for periodically reading the temperature condition measured by each temperature sensing element TEMP(J),
• means for comparing the read temperature condition TEMP(J) to a desired temperature condition TEMP.sub.SET to generate a signal SIGNAL(J) based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and the processing element including control means for causing the power controller to vary the power pulse to each zone E(J) based upon SIGNAL(J) by varying DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) while keeping AMP.sub.E(J) essentially the same for all E(J), to maintain TEMP(J).apprxeq.TEMP.sub.SET for all E(J).

A tissue ablation system comprising

• an ablating element comprising at least one structure supporting at least two zones for emitting ablating energy E(J), where J=2 to N, N being the total number of zones,
• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each zone E(J) for measuring a temperature condition localized with respect to the zone E(J), the localized temperature condition being designated TEMP(J),
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to the zones E(J) including a switching element to convey ablating energy individually to each zone E(J) in a power pulse having a duty cycle DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) and an amplitude AMP.sub.E(J), AMP.sub.E(J) being set to be essentially the same for all E(J), wherein the power P.sub.E(J) delivered to each zone E(J) is expressed as follows:
• P.sub.E(J) .about.AMP.sub.E(J).sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J)
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element including
• means for periodically reading the temperature condition measured by each temperature sensing element TEMP(J),
• means for identifying the lowest read temperature condition TEMP.sub.SMIN of all TEMP(J), and
• means for comparing the lowest read temperature condition TEMP.sub.SMIN to a desired temperature condition TEMP.sub.SET to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element including control means for causing the power controller to vary the power pulse to each zone E(J) based upon the signal by varying AMP.sub.E(J) for all E(J) to maintain TEMP.sub.SMIN .apprxeq.TEMP.sub.SET.

A tissue ablation system comprising

• an ablating element comprising at least one structure supporting at least two zones for emitting ablating energy E(J), where J=2 to N, N being the total number of zones,
• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each zone E(J) for measuring a temperature condition localized with respect to the zone E(J), the localized temperature condition being designated TEMP(J),
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to the zones E(J) including a switching element to convey ablating energy individually to each zone E(J) in a power pulse having a duty cycle DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) and an amplitude AMP.sub.E(J), AMP.sub.E(J) being set to be essentially the same for all E(J), wherein the power P.sub.E(J) delivered to each zone E(J) is expressed as follows:
• P.sub.E(J) .about.AMP.sub.E(J).sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J)
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element including
• means for periodically reading the temperature condition measured by each temperature sensing element TEMP(J),
• means for identifying the lowest read temperature condition TEMP.sub.SMIN of all TEMP(J), and
• means for comparing the lowest read temperature condition TEMP.sub.SMIN to a desired temperature condition TEMP.sub.SET to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element including control means for causing the power controller to vary the power pulse to each zone E(J) based upon the signal by varying AMP.sub.E(J) for all E(J) to maintain TEMP.sub.SMIN .apprxeq.TEMP.sub.SET while also varying the DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) of each zone E(J) where TEMP(J)>TEMP.sub.SMIN to maintain TEMP(J).apprxeq.TEMP.sub.SET for each such zone.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitters,
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element for periodically reading the temperature measured by each temperature sensing element and selecting one of the measured temperatures based upon preestablished criteria for comparison to a desired temperature to generate a signal, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to convey ablating energy to the emitters based upon the signal.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy individually to each emitter in a sequence of power pulses, each power pulse having a duty cycle and an amplitude, wherein ablating power delivered to each emitter is expressed as follows:
• POWER.about.AMPLITUDE.sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element for periodically reading the temperature measured by each temperature sensing element and selecting one of the measured temperatures based upon preestablished criteria for comparison to a desired temperature to generate a signal, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to vary the power pulses to the emitters based upon the signal.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy individually to each emitter,
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element for periodically reading the temperature measured by each temperature sensing element and selecting one of the measured temperatures based upon preestablished criteria and for comparing the temperature measured by each temperature sensor to the selected one of the measured temperatures to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to individually control the conveyance of ablating energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter.

A tissue ablation system comprising

• an ablating element comprising at least one structure supporting at least two zones for emitting ablating energy E(J), where J=2 to N, N being the total number of zones,
• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each zone E(J) for measuring a temperature condition localized with respect to the zone E(J), the localized temperature condition being designated TEMP(J),
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to the zones E(J) including a switching element to convey ablating energy individually to each zone E(J) in a power pulse having a duty cycle DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J) and an amplitude AMP.sub.E(J), wherein the power P.sub.E(J) delivered to each zone E(J) is expressed as follows:
• P.sub.E(J) .about.AMP.sub.E(J).sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE.sub.E(J)
• a processing element coupled to the at least one temperature sensing element including
• means for periodically reading the temperature condition measured by each temperature sensing element TEMP(J),
• means for comparing each read temperature condition TEMP(J) to a prescribed low threshold temperature condition TEMP.sub.LOWTHRESH and a prescribed high threshold temperature condition TEMP.sub.HITHRESH, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to turn off a given zone E(J) when TEMP(J) for that zone.gtoreq.TEMP.sub.HITHRESH and for turn on the given zone E(J) when TEMP(J) for that zone<TEMP.sub.LOWTHRESH.

A system for ablating body tissue comprising

• an emitter of ablating energy supported on a structure,
• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with the energy emitter for measuring temperatures at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to the energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitter,
• a processing element coupled to the at least two temperature sensing elements for periodically reading the temperature measured by each temperature sensing element and selecting the hottest one of the measured temperatures and for comparing the selected hottest temperature to a desired temperature to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to convey energy to the emitter based upon the signal.

A system for ablating body tissue comprising

• an emitter of ablating energy supported on a structure,
• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with the energy emitter for measuring temperatures at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to the energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitter,
• a processing element coupled to the at least two temperature sensing elements for periodically reading the temperature measured by each temperature sensing element and deriving therefrom a prediction of the hottest tissue temperature at the emitter and for comparing the predicted hottest temperature to a desired temperature to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to convey energy to the emitter based upon the signal.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperatures at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy individually to each emitter,
• a processing element coupled to the at least two temperature sensing elements for periodically reading the temperatures measured by the temperature sensing elements for each emitter and selecting for each emitter the hottest one of the measured temperatures and for comparing the hottest one of the temperatures for each emitter to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to individually convey energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the hottest temperature at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperatures at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy individually to each emitter in a sequence of power pulses, each power pulse having a duty cycle and an amplitude, wherein power delivered to each emitter for ablating tissue is expressed as follows:
• POWER.about.AMPLITUDE.sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE
• a processing element coupled to the at least two temperature sensing elements for periodically reading the temperatures measured by the temperature sensing elements for each emitter and selecting for each emitter the hottest one of the measured temperatures and for comparing the hottest one of the temperatures for each emitter to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to individually vary the power pulse to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the hottest temperature at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperatures at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy individually to each emitter in a sequence of power pulses, each power pulse having a duty cycle and an amplitude, wherein power delivered to each emitter for ablating tissue is expressed as follows:
• POWER.about.AMPLITUDE.sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE
• a processing element coupled to the at least two temperature sensing elements for periodically reading the temperatures measured by the temperature sensing elements for each emitter and predicting for each emitter the hottest tissue temperature and for comparing the predicted hottest temperature for each emitter to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• a temperature controller coupled to the power controller and to the processing element for causing the power controller to individually vary the power pulse to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the predicted hottest temperature at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A method for ablating body tissue using multiple emitters of ablating energy comprising the steps of

• conveying ablating energy individually to each emitter in a sequence of power pulses, each power pulse having a duty cycle and an amplitude, wherein power delivered to each emitter for ablating tissue is expressed as follows:
• POWER.about.AMPLITUDE.sup.2 .times.DUTY CYCLE
• periodically sensing temperature at each emitter,
• comparing the sensed temperatures to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• individually varying the power pulse to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the temperatures at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A method for ablating body tissue using multiple emitters of ablating energy comprising the steps of

• conveying ablating energy to the emitters,
• periodically sensing temperature at each emitter,
• selecting one of the sensed temperatures based upon preestablished criteria for comparison to a desired temperature to generate a signal, and
• controlling the conveyance of ablating energy to all emitters based upon the signal.

A method for ablating body tissue using multiple emitters of ablating energy comprising the steps of

• conveying ablating energy individually to each emitter,
• periodically sensing temperature at each emitter,
• selecting one of the sensed temperatures based upon preestablished criteria,
• comparing the sensed temperature at each emitter to the selected one of the sensed temperatures to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• individually controlling the conveyance of ablating energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter.

A method for ablating body tissue comprising the steps of

• conveying ablating energy to an emitter,
• periodically sensing at least two temperatures at the emitter,
• selecting the hottest one of the selected temperatures,
• comparing the selected hottest temperature to a desired temperature to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• controlling the conveyance of energy to the emitter based upon the signal.

A method for ablating body tissue comprising the steps of

• conveying ablating energy to an emitter,
• periodically sensing at least two temperatures at the emitter,
• predicting the hottest tissue temperature at the emitter based upon the sensed temperatures,
• comparing the predicted hottest tissue temperature to a desired temperature to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• controlling the conveyance of energy to the emitter based upon the signal.

A method ablating body tissue using multiple emitters of ablating energy comprising the steps of

• conveying ablating energy individually to each emitter,
• periodically sensing at least two temperatures at each emitter,
• selecting for each emitter the hottest one of the sensed temperatures,
• comparing the hottest one of the temperatures for each emitter to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• individually controlling the conveyance of energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the hottest temperature at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A method ablating body tissue using multiple emitters of ablating energy comprising the steps of

• conveying ablating energy individually to each emitter,
• periodically sensing at least two temperatures at each emitter,
• predicting the hottest tissue temperature at each emitter based upon temperatures sensed at that emitter,
• comparing the predicted hottest tissue temperature for each emitter to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• individually controlling the conveyance of energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the predicted hottest tissue temperature at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy individually from the source to each emitter in a sequence of power pulses, each power pulse having a duty cycle and an amplitude, wherein power delivered to each emitter for ablating tissue is expressed as follows:
• POWER.about.AMPLITUDE.sup.2 .times.DUTYCYCLE
• an element coupled to each temperature sensing element and to the power controller to vary the power pulses conveyed by the power controller including
• means for periodically sensing temperature at each emitter using the at least one temperature sensing element,
• means for comparing the sensed temperatures to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• means for causing the power controller to individually vary the power pulse to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the temperatures at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitters, and
• an element coupled to each temperature sensing element and to the power controller to control the conveyance of ablating energy to the emitters including
• means for periodically sensing temperature at each emitter using the at least one temperature sensing element,
• means for selecting one of the sensed temperatures based upon preestablished criteria for comparison to a desired temperature to generate a signal, and
• means for causing the power controller to convey ablating energy to all emitters based upon the signal.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least one temperature sensing element supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitters, and
• an element coupled to each temperature sensing element and to the power controller to control the conveyance of ablating energy to the emitters including
• means for periodically sensing temperature at each emitter using the at least one temperature sensing element,
• means for selecting one of the sensed temperatures based upon preestablished criteria,
• means for comparing the sensed temperature at each emitter to the selected one of the sensed temperatures to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• means for causing the power controller to individually control the conveyance of ablating energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitters, and
• an element coupled to each temperature sensing element and to the power controller to control the conveyance of ablating energy to the emitters including
• means for periodically sensing at least two temperatures at the emitter using the at least two temperature sensing elements,
• means for selecting the hottest one of the selected temperatures,
• means for comparing the selected hottest temperature to a desired temperature to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• means for causing the power controller to conveyance of energy to the emitter based upon the signal.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitters, and
• an element coupled to each temperature sensing element and to the power controller to control the conveyance of ablating energy to the emitters including
• means for periodically sensing at least two temperatures at the emitter using the at least two temperature sensing elements,
• means for predicting the hottest tissue temperature at the emitter based upon the sensed temperatures,
• means for comparing the predicted hottest tissue temperature to a desired temperature to generate a signal based upon the comparison, and
• means for causing the power controller to convey energy to the emitter based upon the signal.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitters, and
• an element coupled to each temperature sensing element and to the power controller to control the conveyance of ablating energy to the emitters including
• means for periodically sensing at least two temperatures at each emitter using the at least two temperature sensing elements,
• means for selecting for each emitter the hottest one of the sensed temperatures,
• means for comparing the hottest one of the temperatures for each emitter to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• means for causing the power controller to individually control the conveyance of energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the hottest temperature at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.

A system for ablating body tissue including multiple emitters of ablating energy supported adjacent body tissue by at least one supporting structure comprising

• at least two temperature sensing elements supported in proximity with each energy emitter for measuring temperature at the emitter,
• a power controller coupled to a source of ablating energy and to each energy emitter to convey ablating energy to the emitters, and
• an element coupled to each temperature sensing element and to the power controller to control the conveyance of ablating energy to the emitters including
• means for periodically sensing at least two temperatures at each emitter using the at least two temperature sensing elements,
• means for predicting the hottest tissue temperature at each emitter based upon temperatures sensed at that emitter,
• means for comparing the predicted hottest tissue temperature for each emitter to a desired temperature established for all emitters to generate a signal individually for each emitter based upon the comparison, and
• means for causing the power controller to individually control the conveyance of energy to each emitter based upon the signal for that emitter to maintain the predicted hottest tissue temperature at all emitters essentially at the desired temperature during tissue ablation.