Ultrasonic freeze ablation catheters and probes
US5139496A · kind A · utility
376Cited by
9References
15Claims
0Family size
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 20, 1990 |
| Grant date | Aug 18, 1992 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 20, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B2018/0262
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Probes for medical surgery and flexible catheters for internal tissue ablation in which the tissue cells are frozen and deadened and yet extreme supercooling of tissue below the tissues' melting point is not required. The tissue cells are moderately supercooled by the probe or catheter and freezing of the cells is caused by cavitation nucleation of ice particles within the cells induced by a low power ultrasonic wave generator. The ultrasonic energy causes well distributed nucleation in the supercooled tissue cells and, as a result, the cells rapidly freeze and, due to such freezing, expand and burst their membranes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.