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US6805128B1 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Apparatus and method for ablating tissue

Assignee: St Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc
•
Filing: 2000-07-12
•
Granted: 2004-10-19
•
Expires: 2020-07-12
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Abstract

Abstract A control system alters one or more characteristics of an ablating element to ablate tissue. In one aspect, the control system delivers energy nearer to the surface of the tissue by changing the frequency or power. In another aspect, the ablating element delivers focused ultrasound which is focused in at least one dimension. The ablating device may also have a number of ablating elements with different characteristics such as focal length.

Inventors

  • 👤 Benjamin Pless
  • 👤 Scott C. Anderson
  • 👤 Jonathan L. Podmore
  • 👤 Matthias Vaska
  • 👤 John E. Crowe
  • 👤 Roxanne L. Richman
  • 👤 Timothy Ciciarelli
  • 👤 David A. Gallup
  • 👤 Jack E. Ulstad, Jr.

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-23 01:49
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B18/00; A61B18/02; A61B18/04; A61B18/12; A61B18/14; A61B18/1482; A61N; A61N1/00; A61N1/02; A61N1/04; A61N1/06; A61N7/00; A61N7/02; A61B18/1492; A61B17/00; A61B2017/00017; A61B2017/00022; A61B2017/00039; A61B2018/00053; A61B2018/00273; A61B2018/00279; A61B2018/00285; A61B2018/00291; A61B2018/00315; A61B2018/00345; A61B2018/00351; A61B2018/00636; A61B2018/00773; A61B2018/00839; A61B2018/1467; A61B2018/1472; A61B2218/00; A61B2218/001; A61B2218/002; A61B2218/007; A61N2007/0056; A61N2007/0065; A61N2007/0078; A61N2007/027

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim 128 words
A method of ablating a cardiac tissue from an epicardial location, comprising the steps of: providing an ablating device having a first ultrasound emitting element and a second ultrasound emitting element, each of the first and second ultrasound emitting elements emitting focused ultrasound having a focal length of 2-20 mm; positioning the ablating device against an epicardial surface overlying a cardiac tissue structure to be ablated; activating the first ultrasound emitting element at a first frequency to produce focused ultrasound having the focal length of 2-20 mm, the focused ultrasound ablating a cardiac tissue structure; and activating the second ultrasound emitting element at a second frequency, different from the first frequency, to produce focused ultrasound having the focal length of 2-20 mm to ablate the cardiac tissue structure.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 128 words
A method of ablating a cardiac tissue from an epicardial location, comprising the steps of: providing an ablating device having a first ultrasound emitting element and a second ultrasound emitting element, each of the first and second ultrasound emitting elements emitting focused ultrasound having a focal length of 2-20 mm; positioning the ablating device against an epicardial surface overlying a cardiac tissue structure to be ablated; activating the first ultrasound emitting element at a first frequency to produce focused ultrasound having the focal length of 2-20 mm, the focused ultrasound ablating a cardiac tissue structure; and activating the second ultrasound emitting element at a second frequency, different from the first frequency, to produce focused ultrasound having the focal length of 2-20 mm to ablate the cardiac tissue structure.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: moving the ablating device so that the activating steps are carried out to ablate the same tissue.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 18 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein: the activating steps are carried out to ablate different cardiac tissue.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 39 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: characterizing a portion of cardiac tissue; and selecting at least one of the first and second ultrasound emitting elements to ablate the portion of cardiac tissue based on the characterizing step.
Claim 6
Independent Claim 88 words
A method of ablating a cardiac tissue from an epicardial location, comprising the steps of: providing an ablating device having a body with a first ultrasound emitting element and a second ultrasound emitting element, the first and second ultrasound emitting elements both producing focused ultrasound, the first and second ultrasound emitting elements producing focused ultrasound having different focal lengths relative to the body; positioning the ablating device at an epicardial location; activating the first ultrasound emitting element to ablate cardiac tissue; and activating the second ultrasound emitting element.
Claim 7
Independent Claim 88 words
A method of ablating a cardiac tissue from an epicardial location, comprising the steps of: providing an ablating device having a body with a first ultrasound emitting element and a second ultrasound emitting element, the first and second ultrasound emitting elements both producing focused ultrasound, the first and second ultrasound emitting elements producing focused ultrasound having different focal lengths relative to the body; positioning the ablating device at an epicardial location; activating the first ultrasound emitting element to ablate cardiac tissue; and activating the second ultrasound emitting element.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 42 words
The method of claim 5 , wherein: the providing step is carried out with the first and second ultrasound emitting elements being movable along the body; and the positioning step is carried out by positioning the body along a desired ablation path.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 22 words
The method of claim 6 , further comprising the step of: moving the first and second ultrasound emitting elements along the body.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 48 words
The method of claim 6 , further comprising the step of: positioning the body at a selected location on the epicardial surface to create an elongate lesion using the first and second ultrasound emitting elements; and moving the first and second ultrasound emitting element after the positioning step.

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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) 2007-10-19 2008-04-19 2008-10-19 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2011-10-19 2012-04-19 2012-10-19 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2015-10-19 2016-04-19 2016-10-19 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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