Apparatus and method for ablating tissue
AssigneeEpicor Medical, Inc.
InventorsBenjamin Pless, Scott C. Anderson, Jonathan L. Podmore, Matthias Vaska, John E. Crowe, Roxanne L. Richman, Timothy Ciciarelli, David A. Gallup, Jack E. Ulstad, Jr.
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Abstract
A control system alters one or more characteristics of an ablating element to ablate tissue. In one aspect, the control system delivers energy nearer to the surface of the tissue by changing the frequency or power. In another aspect, the ablating element delivers focused ultrasound which is focused in at least one dimension. The ablating device may also have a number of ablating elements with different characteristics such as focal length.
Claims56
A method of ablating cardiac tissue, comprising the steps of:
- providing an ablating device having an ultrasonic transducer, the device emitting focused ultrasound which is focused in at least one dimension;
- positioning the ablating device in contact with cardiac tissue;
- and
- activating the ultrasonic transducer to direct the focused ultrasound into the cardiac tissue, the activating step is carried out by activating the ultrasonic transducer for a first period of time at a first frequency and a second period of time at a second frequency which is different than the first frequency and occurs after the first period of time.
A method of ablating cardiac tissue with ultrasound comprising the steps of:
- creating an opening in a patient's chest;
- providing an ablating device which emits focused ultrasound having a focus in at least one direction;
- introducing the ablating device through the opening in the patient's chest;
- positioning the ablating device in contact with a cardiac tissue structure to be ablated, the cardiac tissue structure having a near wall and a far wall;
- and
- operating the ablating device at a frequency and a power to direct the ultrasonic energy into the tissue structure for a number of discrete time periods;
- and
- changing at least one of the frequency and location of the focus relative to the tissue and activating the ablating device to ablate the cardiac tissue structure for another period of time.
A method of ablating cardiac tissue to form an elongate lesion to treat a cardiac arrhythmia, comprising the steps of:
- providing an ablating device having a plurality of ablating elements, the plurality of ablating elements each emitting focused ultrasound, the focused ultrasound being focused in at least one direction and having a focal length of 2-20 mm;
- forming an opening in a patient's chest;
- introducing the ablating device through the opening in the patient's chest;
- positioning the ablating device against an epicardial surface overlying a cardiac tissue structure to be ablated, the cardiac structure having a near wall and a far wall;
- and
- activating the plurality of ablating elements each for a number of discrete periods of time, the ablating element emitting focused ultrasound into the cardiac tissue structure to ablate the cardiac tissue structure to treat the cardiac arrhythmia.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.