Patent US6171306B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6171306B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Systems and methods for forming large lesions in body tissue using curvilinear electrode elements
Assignee: EP Technologies Inc
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Filing: 1996-12-09
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Granted: 2001-01-09
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Expires: 2016-12-09
Abstract
Abstract Systems and associated methods form larger and deeper lesion patterns by shaping a support body with multiple electrodes in ways that increase the density of the electrodes per given tissue area. The support body can carry either elongated, continuous electrodes or arrays of non-contiguous, segmented electrodes.
Inventors
- 👤 David K. Swanson
- 👤 Thomas Bourne
- 👤 Sidney D. Fleischman
- 👤 Dorin Panescu
- 👤 James G. Whayne
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 22:48
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/68; A61B5/6846; A61B5/6847; A61B5/6852; A61B5/6855; A61B18/00; A61B18/04; A61B18/12; A61B18/14; A61B18/1492; A61B5/24; A61B5/25; A61B5/279; A61B5/28; A61B5/283; A61B5/287; A61B5/6857; A61B5/6858; A61L; A61L29/00; A61L29/14; A61L29/145; A61L31/00; A61L31/08; A61L31/10; A61L31/14; A61L31/145; A61N; A61N1/00; A61N1/02; A61N1/04; A61N1/05; A61N1/056; A61N1/06; A61N1/40; A61N1/403; A61B18/1402; A61B18/18; A61B18/1815; A61B17/00; A61B2017/00017; A61B2017/00022; A61B2017/00084; A61B17/00234; A61B2017/00292; A61B2017/003; A61B2018/00053; A61B2018/00059; A61B2018/00071; A61B2018/00083; A61B2018/00107; A61B2018/00148; A61B2018/0016; A61B2018/00184; A61B2018/00196; A61B2018/00214; A61B2018/00267; A61B2018/00315; A61B2018/00345; A61B2018/00351; A61B2018/00357; A61B2018/00571; A61B2018/00577; A61B2018/00636; A61B2018/00696; A61B2018/00755; A61B2018/00773; A61B2018/00839; A61B2018/00869; A61B2018/00875; A61B18/1206; A61B2018/124; A61B2018/1246; A61B2018/1253; A61B2018/126; A61B2018/1405; A61B2018/1407; A61B2018/1435; A61B2018/1497; A61B2018/1861; A61B2562/00; A61B2562/04; A61B2562/043; A61M; A61M25/00; A61M25/01; A61M25/09; A61M2025/09133; A61M2025/09141; A61M25/0021; A61M25/0041
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
160 words
A system for ablating an area of body tissue comprising: a catheter body including a curved region shaped to at least partially encircle the tissue area, at least two spaced ablation electrodes on the curved region of the catheter body adapted to face each other across tissue with no portions of the catheter body or other electrodes therebetween, an indifferent electrode, a source of radio frequency energy coupled to the ablation electrodes and the indifferent electrode, and a control element operable to simultaneously apply radio frequency energy from the source to the ablation electrodes for simultaneous transmission from each of the ablation electrodes into the tissue area to the indifferent electrode, wherein the respective sizes and spacing of the at least two electrodes is such that a substantially continuous lesion will be formed across the tissue area between the ablation electrodes in response to simultaneous transmission from each of the ablation electrodes into the tissue area to the indifferent electrode.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
160 words
A system for ablating an area of body tissue comprising: a catheter body including a curved region shaped to at least partially encircle the tissue area, at least two spaced ablation electrodes on the curved region of the catheter body adapted to face each other across tissue with no portions of the catheter body or other electrodes therebetween, an indifferent electrode, a source of radio frequency energy coupled to the ablation electrodes and the indifferent electrode, and a control element operable to simultaneously apply radio frequency energy from the source to the ablation electrodes for simultaneous transmission from each of the ablation electrodes into the tissue area to the indifferent electrode, wherein the respective sizes and spacing of the at least two electrodes is such that a substantially continuous lesion will be formed across the tissue area between the ablation electrodes in response to simultaneous transmission from each of the ablation electrodes into the tissue area to the indifferent electrode.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
A system as defined in claim 1 wherein each of the ablation electrodes has a length and a diameter and wherein the length of each electrode is less than or equal to about 5 times its diameter.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
A system as defined in claim 2 wherein the distance between the ablation electrodes across the tissue area is equal to or less than about 7 times the smaller of the diameters of the ablation electrodes.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
A system as defined in claim 3 wherein the distance between the ablation electrodes across the tissue area is equal to or less than about 5 times the smaller of the diameters of the ablation electrodes.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
36 words
A system as defined in claim 2 wherein the distance between the ablation electrodes across the tissue area is equal to or less than about 4 times the shorter of the lengths of the ablation electrodes.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
A system as defined in claim 5 wherein the distance between the ablation electrodes across the tissue area is equal to or less than about 3 times the shorter of the lengths of the ablation electrodes.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
17 words
As system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least two electrodes are diametrically opposed.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
As system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least two electrodes are circumferentially spaced by at least 90 degrees.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
43 words
A system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the curved region of the catheter body is semi-circular and defines longitudinal ends, and the at least two electrodes are respectively located on the longitudinal ends of the semi-circular region of the catheter body.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of forming a continuous lesion in an area of body tissue comprising the steps of: providing first and second electrodes; providing a catheter body having a curved region; locating the first and second electrodes at two spaced apart points on the curved region of the catheter body; placing the catheter body in contact with body tissue so that the area of body tissue lies between the spaced apart first and second electrodes with no portions of the catheter body or other electrodes therebetween; placing an indifferent electrode in electrical contact with body tissue at a location spaced from the first and second electrodes, and applying radio frequency energy simultaneously to the first and second electrodes so that the first and second electrodes simultaneously transmit the radio frequency energy into the body tissue to the indifferent electrode to form a lesion that extends without interruption across the tissue area between the first and second electrodes.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of forming a continuous lesion in an area of body tissue comprising the steps of: providing first and second electrodes; providing a catheter body having a curved region; locating the first and second electrodes at two spaced apart points on the curved region of the catheter body; placing the catheter body in contact with body tissue so that the area of body tissue lies between the spaced apart first and second electrodes with no portions of the catheter body or other electrodes therebetween; placing an indifferent electrode in electrical contact with body tissue at a location spaced from the first and second electrodes, and applying radio frequency energy simultaneously to the first and second electrodes so that the first and second electrodes simultaneously transmit the radio frequency energy into the body tissue to the indifferent electrode to form a lesion that extends without interruption across the tissue area between the first and second electrodes.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method as defined in claim 10 comprising the further step of setting the lengths of each of the first and second electrodes to no more than 5 times their respective diameters.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined in claim 11 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 7 times the smaller of their diameters.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined by claim 12 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 5 times the smaller of their diameters.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined by claim 11 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 4 times the shorter of their lengths.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined by claim 14 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 3 times the shorter of their lengths.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the step of placing the catheter body in contact with body tissue comprises placing the catheter body in contact with body tissue such that the first and second electrodes are diametrically opposed.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the step of placing the catheter body in contact with body tissue comprises placing the catheter body in contact with body tissue such that the first and second electrodes are circumferentially spaced by at least 90 degrees.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
127 words
A method of forming a substantially continuous lesion in an area of body tissue comprising the steps of: locating a first electrode on a catheter body in proximity with body tissue; locating a second electrode on the catheter body in proximity with body tissue spaced from the first electrode with the tissue area between the first and second electrodes and no portions of the catheter body or other electrodes therebetween; locating an indifferent electrode in proximity with body tissue at a location spaced from the first and second electrodes; and simultaneously transmitting radio frequency energy from each of the first and second electrodes to the indifferent electrode through the body tissue to form a substantially continuous lesion across the tissue area between the first and second electrodes.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
127 words
A method of forming a substantially continuous lesion in an area of body tissue comprising the steps of: locating a first electrode on a catheter body in proximity with body tissue; locating a second electrode on the catheter body in proximity with body tissue spaced from the first electrode with the tissue area between the first and second electrodes and no portions of the catheter body or other electrodes therebetween; locating an indifferent electrode in proximity with body tissue at a location spaced from the first and second electrodes; and simultaneously transmitting radio frequency energy from each of the first and second electrodes to the indifferent electrode through the body tissue to form a substantially continuous lesion across the tissue area between the first and second electrodes.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as defined in claim 18 comprising the further step of setting the lengths of each of the first and second electrodes to no more 5 times their respective diameters.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined in claim 19 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 7 times the smaller of their diameters.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined by claim 20 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 5 times the smaller of their diameters.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined by claim 19 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 4 times the shorter of their lengths.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as defined by claim 22 comprising the further step of spacing the first and second electrodes by no more than 3 times the shorter of their lengths.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the step of locating a second electrode on the catheter body in proximity with body tissue spaced from the first electrode comprises locating the second electrode such that the first and second electrodes are diametrically opposed.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
50 words
A method as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the step of locating a second electrode on the catheter body in proximity with body tissue spaced from the first electrode comprises locating the second electrode such that the first and second electrodes are circumferentially spaced by at least 90 degrees.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-01-09 | 2004-07-10 | 2005-01-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-01-09 | 2008-07-10 | 2009-01-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-01-09 | 2012-07-10 | 2013-01-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |