US20040073206A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Surgical devices and methods for use in tissue ablation procedures
Assignee: Iotek Inc
•
Filing: 2003-11-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2023-11-07
Abstract
Abstract Methods are provided to assist a surgeon in ablating conduction paths in tissue, such as a heart. In one embodiment, the invention presents a method that includes placing a guide in contact with the tissue to be ablated, applying an ablation probe to the tissue using the guide to assist in control of movement of the ablation probe, measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths, and deactivating the ablation probe when the measured effectiveness meets a desired level. Placement of the guide in contact with the tissue allows the surgeon to more easily sever the conduction path to form a lesion in a desired location.
Inventors
- 👤 Frederick Foley
- 👤 James Sharrow
- 👤 Lorraine Reeve
- 👤 Thomas Adelman
- 👤 Michael Hoey
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 01:51
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B18/00; A61B18/04; A61B18/12; A61B18/14; A61B18/1492; A61B17/00; A61B17/00234; A61B2017/00292; A61B2017/003; A61B17/02; A61B2017/0237; A61B2017/0243; A61B17/22; A61B2017/22051; A61B2017/22065; A61B2017/22067; A61B17/32; A61B2017/320052; A61B2018/00053; A61B2018/00214; A61B2018/0022; A61B2018/0025; A61B2018/00261; A61B2018/00273; A61B2018/00279; A61B2018/00285; A61B2018/00291; A61B2018/00636; A61B2018/00773; A61B2018/00875; A61B2018/1475
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim
60 words
1 . A method for ablation of conduction paths within tissue comprising: placing a first device near the target conduction paths to be severed; using the first device as a guide for an ablation probe to sever the target conduction paths; and measuring electrical tissue characteristics proximate the target conduction paths to determine whether the desired severing has been achieved.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
60 words
1 . A method for ablation of conduction paths within tissue comprising: placing a first device near the target conduction paths to be severed; using the first device as a guide for an ablation probe to sever the target conduction paths; and measuring electrical tissue characteristics proximate the target conduction paths to determine whether the desired severing has been achieved.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first device and the second device are coupled to one another.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring comprises measuring at least one of phase angle and impedance.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring comprises measuring at least one of conduction time, conduction distance or conduction velocity.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising comparing the desired degree of ablation with the measured degree of ablation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising discontinuing ablation when the desired degree of ablation has been achieved.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising automatically discontinuing ablation when the desired degree of ablation has been achieved.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying vacuum pressure to the first device to secure the first device to the tissue near the target conduction paths to be served.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
72 words
9 . A method for ablating heart tissue to ablate conduction paths, the method comprising: placing a guide in contact with the tissue to be ablated; applying an ablation probe to the tissue using the guide to assist in control of movement of the ablation probe; measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths; and deactivating the ablation probe when the measured effectiveness meets a desired level.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
72 words
9 . A method for ablating heart tissue to ablate conduction paths, the method comprising: placing a guide in contact with the tissue to be ablated; applying an ablation probe to the tissue using the guide to assist in control of movement of the ablation probe; measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths; and deactivating the ablation probe when the measured effectiveness meets a desired level.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths includes measuring at least one of electrical impedance, electrical phase angle, electrical conduction velocity, electrical conduction time, and electrical conduction distance across the tissue to be ablated.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths includes measuring impedance across the tissue to be ablated.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths includes measuring the phase angle across the tissue to be ablated.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the measurement is made using electrodes that are structurally integrated with the guide.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
23 words
14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the ablation probe is deactivated automatically when the measured effectiveness meets a desired level.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
44 words
15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths comprises: making a plurality of measurements of electrical impedance across the tissue; and monitoring a decrease in electrical impedance with the measurements.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
33 words
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein deactivating the ablation probe when the measured effectiveness meets a desired level comprises deactivating the ablation probe when the decrease in electrical impedance discontinues.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
54 words
17 . The method of claim 9 , wherein measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths comprises: making a plurality of measurements of a magnitude of an alternating current phase angle across the tissue; and monitoring a change in the magnitude of the phase angle with the measurements.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
37 words
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein deactivating the ablation probe when the measured effectiveness meets a desired level comprises deactivating the ablation probe when the change in the magnitude of the phase angle discontinues.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
30 words
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein monitoring a change in the magnitude of the phase angle comprises monitoring a decrease in the magnitude of the phase angle.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
41 words
20 . The method of claim 9 , wherein measuring the effectiveness of the ablation probe in ablation of the conduction paths comprises: making a plurality of measurements of conduction time; and monitoring an increase in conduction time with the measurements.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
33 words
21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein deactivating the ablation probe when the measured effectiveness meets a desired level comprises deactivating the ablation probe when the increase in conduction time discontinues.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
23 words
22 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising applying vacuum pressure to the guide to secure the guide to the tissue.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
57 words
23 . A method for performing surgery on moving organ tissue comprising: affixing a contact member on a moving tissue surface; providing a surgical instrument that is attached to the contact member to place the surgical instrument in substantially the same frame of motion as the tissue surface; and performing a surgical procedure with the surgical instrument.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
57 words
23 . A method for performing surgery on moving organ tissue comprising: affixing a contact member on a moving tissue surface; providing a surgical instrument that is attached to the contact member to place the surgical instrument in substantially the same frame of motion as the tissue surface; and performing a surgical procedure with the surgical instrument.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
17 words
24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the moving organ tissue is beating heart tissue.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
38 words
25 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the surgical instrument is an ablation probe, and performing the surgical procedure includes forming a tissue lesion with the ablation probe to sever desired conduction paths within the tissue.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
28 words
26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the ablation probe includes one of a radio frequency, laser, ultrasonic, microwave, thermal, chemical, mechanical, and cryogenic ablation probe.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
33 words
27 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising moving the ablation probe along the tissue surface relative to the contact member to form the tissue lesion along a desired ablation track.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
35 words
28 . The method of claim 23 , wherein affixing the contact member on the moving tissue surface comprises applying vacuum pressure to the contact member to secure the contact member to the tissue surface.
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