Treatment of tissue in sphincters, sinuses, and orifices
AssigneeNovasys Medical, Inc.
InventorsStuart D. Edwards, Simon W. H. Thomas
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention comprises a method and apparatus for treatment of a body part. More particularly, a method and apparatus for heat treatment of tissue using a catheter inserted into a body part is described along with means for positioning the catheter and means for positioning a set of electrodes relative to a tissue sample for treatment. Still more particularly, radio frequency energy at about 400 to 500 kilohertz is used to provide heat for the tissue treatment.
Claims18
An apparatus for heat treatment of urinary incontinence in a woman comprising:
- a catheter for insertion into a urethra and bladder;
- and
- an electrode-deployment structure coupled at a distal portion of said catheter, comprising:
- an expandable member that, upon expansion, deploys said at least one electrode toward a tissue targeted for treatment, allowing contact of said at least one electrode with said tissue targeted for treatment for delivery of radio frequency (RF) energy to said tissue targeted for treatment;
- and
- a control linkage configured to deploy said at least one electrode toward the tissue targeted for treatment.
A system for treating urinary incontinence in a woman, the system comprising:
- a source of RF energy;
- and
- a treatment catheter for insertion into a urethra and bladder neck and configured to connect to the source of RF energy, said treatment catheter having:
- an expandable electrode deployment structure coupled at a distal segment of said catheter, comprising:
- at least one electrode;
- and
- an expandable member that, upon expansion, deploys said at least one electrode toward a tissue targeted for treatment, allowing contact of said at least one electrode to contact said tissue targeted for treatment for delivery of radio frequency (RF) energy to said tissue targeted for treatment;
- an anchor configured to secure said distal portion in the urethra;
- and
- a sensor configured to feedback temperature information to regulate energy plied by the electrodes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.