Cryogenic surgical system and method of use in removal of tissue
OwnerCharles D. Kelman, Roman Perez-Solerinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is directed towards a surgical system and method of use for treating and removing unwanted tissue, preferably from an organ or other internal part of a patient. The system includes a cryosurgical component for first freezing the unwanted living tissue by forming an ice mass which completely encompasses the unwanted living tissue and means for treating the cryogenically-treated tissue and then removing the tissue while it remains in a frozen state. In one embodiment, an ultrasonic device is used to ultrasonically vibrate the cryogenically-treated tissue to break apart the frozen tissue and the frozen broken-up pieces of tissue are removed using a technique, such as an aspiration process.
Claims37
A surgical instrument for freezing and removing a mass of unwanted tissue from a patient's body, the surgical instrument comprising:
- an outer casing;
- an element having a distal section disposed between the outer casing, the element being coupled to a control system for causing movement of at least the distal section of the element, the element having a bore extending therethrough;
- and
- a cryoprobe received within the bore such that the cryoprobe is displaceable between an extended position where the cryoprobe extends beyond a distal end of the element and a retracted position where the cryoprobe is retracted within the bore, the cryoprobe for cooling the mass of unwanted tissue at a temperature sufficiently below the freezing point of the tissue and for a predetermined time period to form an ice mass which encompasses the mass of unwanted tissue and wherein upon activation, the element transfers energy to the ice mass to cause an interior of the ice mass that contains the cryosurgically treated unwanted tissue to break apart into smaller tissue pieces.
A surgical instrument for freezing and removing a mass of unwanted tissue from a patient's body, the surgical instrument comprising:
- a cryosurgical component in the form of an outer sleeve having a bore formed therein, the cryosurgical component cooling the mass of unwanted tissue at a temperature sufficiently below the freezing point of the tissue and for a predetermined time period to form an ice mass which encompasses the mass of unwanted tissue;
- an element received within the bore such that it is displaceable between an extended position where a distal tip thereof extends beyond a distal end of the cryosurgical component and a retracted position where the element is retracted within the bore, the element being coupled to a control system for causing selective movement of the element to cause an interior of the ice mass that contains the cryosurgically treated unwanted tissue to break apart into smaller tissue pieces.
A surgical instrument for freezing and removing a mass of unwanted tissue from a patient's body, the surgical instrument comprising:
- a cryosurgical component in the form of an outer sleeve having a bore formed therein, the cryosurgical component cooling the mass of unwanted tissue at a temperature sufficiently below the freezing point of the tissue and for a predetermined time period to form an ice mass which encompasses the mass of unwanted tissue;
- a probe received within the bore such that it is displaceable between an extended position where a distal tip thereof extends beyond a distal end of the cryosurgical component and a retracted position where the probe is retracted within the bore, the probe being coupled to a control system for causing the probe to mechanically vibrate to cause an interior of the ice mass that contains the cryosurgically treated unwanted tissue to break apart into smaller tissue pieces when the distal tip contacts the ice mass, wherein the probe contains a first feature for ensuring that the smaller tissue pieces remain in a frozen state and a second feature for aspirating the frozen tissue pieces.
A method of freezing and removing a mass of unwanted tissue, the method comprising:
- cryosurgically cooling the mass of unwanted tissue to a temperature at least below a freezing point of the tissue and for a predetermined period of time so that an ice mass forms and encompasses the unwanted tissue;
- treating an interior of the ice mass that contains the cryosurgically treated unwanted tissue to reduce the cryosurgically treated unwanted tissue into smaller frozen tissue pieces;
- bathing the frozen tissue pieces with a super cooled irrigation fluid to form a suspension of frozen tissue pieces within the irrigation fluid;
- and
- withdrawing the resultant suspension of frozen tissue pieces along with the irrigation fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.