US20030004507A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Ablation system and method of use
Assignee: Medtronic Inc
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Filing: 2002-04-24
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2022-04-24
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for creating lesions and assessing their completeness or transmurality. Assessment of transmurality of a lesion is accomplished by monitoring the impedance of the tissue to be ablated. Rather than attempting to detect a desired drop or a desired increase impedance, completeness of a lesion is detected in response to the measured impedance remaining at a stable level for a desired period of time, referred to as an impedance plateau. The mechanism for determining transmurality of lesions adjacent individual electrodes or pairs may be used to deactivate individual electrodes or electrode pairs, when the lesions in tissue adjacent these individual electrodes or electrode pairs are complete, to create an essentially uniform lesion along the line of electrodes or electrode pairs, regardless of differences in tissue thickness adjacent the individual electrodes or electrode pairs.
Inventors
- 👤 David Francischelli
- 👤 Mark Stewart
- 👤 James Skarda
- 👤 Rahul Mehra
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-22 23:04
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B18/00; A61B18/04; A61B18/12; A61B18/1206; A61B18/14; A61B18/1442; A61B18/1445; A61B2018/00053; A61B2018/0016; A61B2018/00315; A61B2018/00345; A61B2018/00351; A61B2018/00363; A61B2018/00571; A61B2018/00577; A61B2018/00636; A61B2018/00696; A61B2018/00702; A61B2018/00761; A61B2018/00773; A61B2018/00791; A61B2018/00875; A61B2018/00886; A61B2018/1467; A61B2218/00; A61B2218/001; A61B2218/002
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
179 words
1 . An ablation system, comprising: generating means for generating ablation energy; an ablation device comprising first ablation means connectable to the generating means and locatable adjacent a first tissue site to be ablated, for applying the generated ablation energy to the first tissue site; a first impedance measuring electrode mounted to the ablation device so that the first impedance measuring electrode is adjacent the first tissue site when the first ablating means is adjacent the first tissue site; impedance measurement circuitry connectable to the first impedance measuring electrode to measure impedance at the first tissue site, using the first impedance measuring electrode; and control circuitry operably coupled to the generating means to initiate and terminate the application of ablating energy to the first ablating means, wherein the control circuitry is coupled to the impedance measurement circuit and terminates application of ablation energy to the first ablating means responsive to occurrence of an impedance plateau measured by the impedance measuring circuitry using the first impedance measuring electrode, following initiation of application of ablating energy to the first ablating means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
179 words
1 . An ablation system, comprising: generating means for generating ablation energy; an ablation device comprising first ablation means connectable to the generating means and locatable adjacent a first tissue site to be ablated, for applying the generated ablation energy to the first tissue site; a first impedance measuring electrode mounted to the ablation device so that the first impedance measuring electrode is adjacent the first tissue site when the first ablating means is adjacent the first tissue site; impedance measurement circuitry connectable to the first impedance measuring electrode to measure impedance at the first tissue site, using the first impedance measuring electrode; and control circuitry operably coupled to the generating means to initiate and terminate the application of ablating energy to the first ablating means, wherein the control circuitry is coupled to the impedance measurement circuit and terminates application of ablation energy to the first ablating means responsive to occurrence of an impedance plateau measured by the impedance measuring circuitry using the first impedance measuring electrode, following initiation of application of ablating energy to the first ablating means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
2 . A system as in claim 1 wherein the first ablating means is a first ablation electrode and wherein the generating means comprises an R-F generator.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
3 . A system as in claim 2 wherein the first ablation electrode is an irrigated ablation electrode.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
4 . A system as in claim 2 wherein the first ablation electrode is employed as the first impedance measuring electrode.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
59 words
5 . A system as in any of claims 1 - 4 wherein the control circuitry comprises a processor programmed to define an impedance criterion defining a maximum acceptable degree of change of impedance and to detect the impedance plateau responsive to a series of impedances measured by the impedance measurement circuit that have an acceptable degree of change.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
6 . A system as in claim 5 , wherein the maximum acceptable degree of change comprises a maximum acceptable rate of change of impedances over the series of measured impedances.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
207 words
7 . A system as in any of claims 1 - 4 , further comprising: second ablation means and connectable to the generating means and mounted to the ablation device so that the second ablation means is locatable adjacent a second tissue site to be ablated while the first ablation means is located adjacent the first tissue site, for applying the generated ablation energy to the second tissue site; a second impedance measuring electrode mounted to the ablation device so that the second impedance measuring electrode is adjacent the second tissue site when the second ablating means is adjacent the second tissue site; and wherein the impedance measurement circuitry is connectable to the first impedance measuring electrode to measure impedance at the second tissue site, using the second impedance measuring electrode; and control circuitry operably coupled to the generating means to initiate and terminate the application of ablating energy to the second ablating means, wherein the control circuitry is coupled to the impedance measurement circuitry and terminates application of ablation energy to the second ablating means responsive to occurrence of an impedance plateau measured by the impedance measuring circuitry using the second impedance measuring electrode, following initiation of application of ablating energy to the second ablating means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
18 words
8 . A system as in claim 7 wherein the second ablating means is a second ablation electrode.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
9 . A system as in claim 8 wherein the second ablation electrode is an irrigated ablation electrode.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
10 . A system as in claim 8 wherein the second ablation electrode is employed as the second impedance measuring electrode.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
55 words
11 . A system as in claim 7 wherein the control circuitry comprises a processor programmed to define an impedance criterion defining a maximum acceptable degree of change of impedance and to detect the impedance plateau responsive to a series of impedances measured by the impedance measurement circuit that have an acceptable degree of change.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
12 . A system as in claim 11 wherein, wherein the maximum acceptable degree of change comprises a maximum acceptable rate of change of impedances over the series of measured impedances.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
41 words
13 . A system as in claim 7 wherein the first and second ablating means are simultaneously connectable to generating means wherein the control means is operable to simultaneously initiate application of ablating energy to the first and second ablating means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
50 words
14 . A system as in claim 7 wherein the first and second ablating means are successively connectable to generating means wherein the control means is operable to initiate application of ablating energy to the second ablating means following termination of application of ablating energy to the first ablating means.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
46 words
15 . A method of ablation system, comprising: applying ablation energy to a first tissue site; monitoring impedance of the first tissue site; and responsive to occurrence of an impedance plateau at the first tissue site, terminating application of ablating energy to the first tissue site.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
46 words
15 . A method of ablation system, comprising: applying ablation energy to a first tissue site; monitoring impedance of the first tissue site; and responsive to occurrence of an impedance plateau at the first tissue site, terminating application of ablating energy to the first tissue site.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
16 . A method as in claim 15 wherein the applying of ablation energy to the first tissue site comprises applying R-F energy using a first R-F electrode.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
26 words
17 . A method as in claim 16 wherein the monitoring of impedance of the first tissue site comprises monitoring impedance using the first R-F electrode.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
29 words
18 . A method as in claim 15 wherein the applying of R-F energy to the first tissue site comprises applying R-F energy using an irrigated first R-F electrode.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
46 words
19 . A method as in any of claims 15 - 18 , wherein the terminating of application of ablating energy to the first tissue site comprises terminating application of ablation energy responsive to a series of monitored impedances that have an acceptable degree of change.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
46 words
20 . A method as in any of claims 15 - 18 , wherein the terminating of application of ablating energy to the first tissue site comprises terminating application of ablation energy responsive to a series of monitored impedances that have an acceptable rate of change.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
53 words
21 . A method as in any of claims 15 - 18 , further comprising: applying ablation energy to a second tissue site; monitoring impedance of the second tissue site; and responsive to occurrence of an impedance plateau at the second tissue site, terminating application of ablating energy to the second tissue site.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
28 words
22 . A method as in claim 21 wherein the applying of ablation energy to the second tissue site comprises applying R-F energy using a second R-F electrode.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
26 words
23 . A method as in claim 22 wherein the monitoring of impedance of the second tissue site comprises monitoring impedance using the second R-F electrode.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
29 words
24 . A method as in claim 21 wherein the applying of R-F energy to the second tissue site comprises applying R-F energy using an irrigated second R-F electrode.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
46 words
25 . A method as in any of claims 21 - 24 , wherein the terminating of application of ablating energy to the second tissue site comprises terminating application of ablation energy responsive to a series of monitored impedances that have an acceptable degree of change.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
46 words
26 . A method as in any of claims 21 - 24 , wherein the terminating of application of ablating energy to the second tissue site comprises terminating application of ablation energy responsive to a series of monitored impedances that have an acceptable rate of change.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
29 words
27 . A method as in any of claims 21 - 24 , wherein the applying of ablation energy to the first and second ablating means is initiated simultaneously.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
38 words
28 . A method as in any of claims 21 - 24 , wherein the applying of ablation energy to the second ablating means is initiated following termination of application of ablation energy to the first ablating means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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