Claims
- 1. A method comprising:
positioning at least one ablation device into the heart chambers; deploying an inflatable balloon at an orifice within the cardiac myocardium in which the balloon can be anchored; radially deploying at least one ablation element; and ablating the heart wall with at least one ablation element to create at least one lesion.
- 2. An apparatus for forming a lesion in the heart wall comprising:
an ablation device including a catheter body concentrically formed with an outer sheath having a distal end and a proximal end; a balloon coupled at the distal end to perform a centering and anchoring function at an orifice within the cardiac myocardium; and at least one ablation element positioned proximal to the balloon which can be radially deployed with respect to the central axis of the apparatus for creating a lesion at a lesion creation site in the heart wall.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising an insulative sheath formed around the ablation element to seal an electrode from contact with surrounding blood at the lesion creation site, said insulative sheath being flared at the tip to orient the electrode normal to the tissue surface to be ablated for maximum delivery of energy.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said outer sheath is configured to translate over the catheter body in telescopic arrangement to radially deploy at least one ablation element with respect to the central axis of the catheter body.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said outer sheath can include one to plurality of smaller housing lumens configured to receive one to plurality of ablation elements.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said catheter body is coupled to said at least one ablation element and is configured to translate over an inner lumen in telescopic arrangement where the inner lumen is coupled to said balloon at its distal end.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a radiofrequency electrode, microwave transmitter, cyrogenic element, laser, ultrasonic transducer or any of the other known type of ablation element suitable for forming lesions.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a pre-shaped wire capable of delivering RF energy at said lesion creation site.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising at least one thermocouple positioned proximate to said at least one ablation element to monitor the amount of heat generated at the lesion creation site and to facilitate temperature measurement of target tissue at the lesion creation site.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising conductive leads coupled to said pre-shaped wire, said conductive leads configured to connect to mapping equipment to facilitate mapping of the electrical activity at said lesion creation site.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said pre-shaped wire comprises a flexibly resilient material that possess a spring quality.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said flexibly resilient material that possess a spring quality consists of materials taken from the group of Nitinol, other memory shape metals, stainless steel, and steel alloys.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said pre-shaped wire comprises a shape taken form the group of solid metal rings or cylinders, foil strips, wire coils and other suitable construction for producing elongated lesions.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises microwave transmitters, cryogenic elements, lasers, heated elements, ultrasound, hot fluids and other types of ablation elements suitable for forming lesions.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a plurality of spaced apart ablation elements positioned about the circumference of the catheter body and outer sheath.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 2, said at least one ablation element comprises a plurality of ablation elements positioned to facilitate lesion formation on the three-dimensional topography of the pulmonary vein ostium.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one ablation element is received within the outer sheath aligned parallel to a central axis of the catheter body, said at least one ablation element radially expanded away from the central axis of the catheter body to allow said at least one ablation element to regain a preformed arcuate shape.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a handle which controls the distal end of the catheter body to position said distal end, said handle including a slidable actuator which controls the amount of transverse movement of the outer sheath relative to catheter body containing said at least one ablation element to control the amount of said at least one ablation element that can be radially deployed.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a handle including a slidable actuator which can control the radial extension of said at least one ablation element.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said slidable actuator is configured to selectively deploy said at least one ablation element.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a plurality of ablation elements, wherein leads couple an energy source to each of said ablation elements, wherein each ablation element is wired to allow selective activation of said ablation elements separately or in combination.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said outer sheath transverses and rotates relative to said central axis to allow the initial positioning of the at least one ablation element to vary in distance relative to the location of the balloon and to rotate along the central axis.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said balloon is used to position and manipulate the at least one ablation element.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said balloon is configured to inflate to variable sizes to control where the balloon is located within the orifice which varies the positioning of the at least one ablation element.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said balloon comprises multi-chambers in a shape other than a circular cross-section, wherein the inflation of said multiple chambers is independently controlled to allow for biasing the at least one ablation element to a specific lesion creation site.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said multi-chamber balloon comprises a clover-like shape wherein the most outer point of the multi-chamber balloon positions the ablation device while allowing blood to flow between recessed spaces formed between the multi-chamber sections and the heart wall.
- 27. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a visual display feature integrated with energy source equipment configured to indicate evidence of contact made between the at lest one ablation elements and the lesion creation site.
- 28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said visual display feature comprises an LED pattern corresponding to a contact point between the at least one ablation element and the lesion creation site.
- 29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said visual display feature comprises an adjustable sensitivity setting to indicate a level of contact between the at least one ablation element and the lesion creation site.
- 30. An apparatus for forming a lesion in the heart wall comprising:
an ablation device including a catheter body concentrically formed with an outer sheath and inner lumen having a distal end and a proximal end; a balloon coupled at the distal end of the inner lumen to position the catheter; and at least one ablation element positioned proximal to the balloon which can be radially deployed with respect to central axis of the apparatus and can be indexed while inner lumen remains stationary and can traverse along the central axis.
- 31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said outer sheath is configured to translate over the catheter body in telescopic arrangement to radially deploy at least one ablation element with respect to the central axis of the catheter body.
- 32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said outer sheath can include one to plurality of smaller housing lumens configured to receive one to plurality of ablation elements.
- 33. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said catheter body is coupled to said at least one ablation element and is configured to translate over an inner lumen in telescopic arrangement where the inner lumen is coupled to said balloon at its distal end.
- 34. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a radiofrequency electrode, microwave transmitter, cryogenic element, laser, ultrasonic transducer or any of the other known type of ablation element suitable for forming lesions.
- 35. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a pre-shaped wire capable of delivering RF energy at said lesion creation site.
- 36. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising at least one thermocouple positioned proximate to said at least one ablation element to monitor the amount of heat generated at the lesion creation site and to facilitate temperature measurement of target tissue at the lesion creation site.
- 37. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising conductive leads coupled to said pre-shaped wire, said conductive leads configured to connect to mapping equipment to facilitate mapping of the electrical activity at said lesion creation site.
- 38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein said pre-shaped wire comprises a flexibly resilient material that possess a spring quality.
- 39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein said flexibly resilient material that possess a spring quality consists of materials taken from the group of Nitinol, other memory shape metals, stainless steel, and steel alloys.
- 40. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein said pre-shaped wire comprises a shape taken form the group of solid metal rings or cylinders, foil strips, wire coils and other suitable construction for producing elongated lesions.
- 41. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises microwave transmitters, cryogenic elements, lasers, heated elements, ultrasound, hot fluids and other types of ablation elements suitable for forming lesions.
- 42. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a plurality of spaced apart ablation elements positioned about the circumference of the catheter body and outer sheath.
- 43. The apparatus of claim 30, said at least one ablation element comprises a plurality of ablation elements positioned to facilitate lesion formation on the three-dimensional topography of the pulmonary vein ostium.
- 44. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said at least one ablation element is received within the outer sheath aligned parallel to a central axis of the catheter body, said at least one ablation element radially expanded away from the central axis of the catheter body to allow said at least one ablation element to regain a preformed arcuate shape.
- 45. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a handle which controls the distal end of the catheter body to position said distal end, said handle including a slidable actuator which controls the amount of transverse movement of the outer sheath relative to catheter body containing said at least one ablation element to control the amount of said at least one ablation element that can be radially deployed.
- 46. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a handle including a slidable actuator which can control the radial extension of said at least one ablation element.
- 47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein said slidable actuator is configured to selectively deploy said at least one ablation element.
- 48. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said at least one ablation element comprises a plurality of ablation elements, wherein leads couple an energy source to each of said ablation elements, wherein each ablation element is wired to allow selective activation of said ablation elements separately or in combination.
- 49. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said outer sheath transverses and rotates relative to said central axis to allow the initial positioning of the at least one ablation element to vary in distance relative to the location of the balloon and to rotate along the central axis.
- 50. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said balloon is used to position and manipulate the at least one ablation element.
- 51. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said balloon is configured to inflate to variable sizes to control where the balloon is located within the orifice which varies the positioning of the at least one ablation element.
- 52. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said balloon comprises multi-chambers in a shape other than a circular cross-section, wherein the inflation of said multiple chambers is independently controlled to allow for biasing the at least one ablation element to a specific lesion creation site.
- 53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein said multi-chamber balloon comprises a clover-like shape wherein the most outer point of the multi-chamber balloon positions the ablation device while allowing blood to flow between recessed spaces formed between the multi-chamber sections and the heart wall.
- 54. The apparatus of claim 30, further comprising a visual display feature integrated with energy source equipment configured to indicate evidence of contact made between the at lest one ablation elements and the lesion creation site.
- 55. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said visual display feature comprises an LED pattern corresponding to a contact point between the at least one ablation element and the lesion creation site.
- 56. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said visual display feature comprises an adjustable sensitivity setting to indicate a level of contact between the at least one ablation element and the lesion creation site.
- 57. A method for creating a lesion in the heart wall to create an ablation pattern to electrically isolate the vasculature from the chamber and to create a segmental electrical isolation for treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, the method comprising:
positioning at least one ablation catheter having proximal and distal portion into the heart chamber near a vasculature ostium; deploying an inflatable balloon to position at least one expandable ablation element proximal to the balloon, traversing the outer sheath along the catheter body to expose the at least one ablation element in a radial direction relative to a central axis of the ablation catheter; advancing the exposed ablation element along an inner lumen of the catheter to cause said at least one ablation element to contact a chamber wall about the vasculature ostium; and ablating a lesion pattern on said chamber wall to electrically isolate the vasculature ostium.
- 58. The method of claim 57, wherein said ablating a lesion pattern on said chamber wall comprises performing focal, segmented, or circumferential ablation.
- 59. The method of claim 57, wherein said ablating a lesion pattern on said chamber wall comprises forming a circumferential lesion pattern around the vasculature ostium by repeatedly rotating the at least one ablation element about the central axis and traversing in and out to contact the chamber wall while activating the ablative energy upon contact.
- 60. The method of claim 57, wherein said deploying said inflatable balloon comprises positioning the inflatable balloon inside the vasculature ostium.
- 61. The method of claim 57, wherein said vasculature ostium comprises a pulmonary vein, wherein said pulmonary vein can be a single distinct circular ostium, two distinct circular ostia sharing a vascular wall, and one elliptical-shape common ostium that bifurcate or trifurcate to separate pulmonary veins.
- 62. The method of claim 61, which can be ablated using the multi-chamber balloon which can bias the ablating member to selectively ablate specific quadrants of circumferential ablation pattern.
- 63. The method of claim 57, wherein said advancing the exposed ablation element comprises controlling the lesion pattern shape and size by allowing only a predetermined portion of the at least one ablation element to be exposed and to regain a preselected shape.
- 64. The method of claim 57, further comprising visually displaying points of contact made between the at least one ablation element and targeted tissue using a feature made of an LED pattern corresponding to said contact points of the ablation element on the target tissue, wherein the visual display has an adjustable sensitivity setting to show the levels of contact.
- 65. The method of claim 64, wherein deploying said inflatable balloon comprises deploying a multi-chamber balloon, wherein said each chamber of said multi-chamber balloon is configured to be independently controlled to increase or decrease the electrical contact made between target tissue and the at least one ablation element.
- 66. A method for mapping the electrical signals inside the vasculature and around the ostium on the chamber side of the heart, the method comprising:
positioning a catheter having a catheter body and an outer sheath inside the vasculature or outside the vasculature around the ostium on the chamber side; and radially expanding a predetermined amount of pre-shaped ablating elements to allow each pre-shaped ablating elements to regain a preselected shape by controlling the amount of transverse movement of the outer sheath relative to the catheter body which contains the pre-shaped the ablating elements.
- 67. A method of claim 66, wherein said pre-shaped ablating elements are coupled with mapping electrodes which contact tissue and provide mapping signals to a mapping device connected to a proximal end of the catheter.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/473,774, filed May 27, 2003, which is herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60473774 |
May 2003 |
US |