Segmented PEF Catheter Delivery for Uniform Lumen Ablation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing therapeutic energy delivery devices face challenges in achieving uniform and effective treatment of body lumens, particularly in treating conditions like atrial fibrillation and pulmonary diseases, due to irregularity of circumferential energy delivery and incomplete transmural energy application, leading to incomplete blockage of aberrant electrical rhythms and recurrence of conditions like atrial fibrillation.
Innovation Solution
The use of specialized catheter designs and energy delivery algorithms that prioritize pulsed electric field energy delivery to create a functionally continuous or balanced treatment area along the inner circumference of body lumens, such as pulmonary veins or airways, by positioning electrodes to span the circumference and applying energy in a phased and synchronized manner to ensure complete treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If pulsed electric field energy is delivered to electrodes spanning the inner circumference of a passageway, then complete and uniform treatment area is achieved, but device complexity and energy delivery control difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The energy delivery system is segmented into multiple independently controllable electrodes positioned around the passageway circumference. Each electrode can be activated separately to create treatment areas that are sequentially or simultaneously activated, ensuring uniform coverage while simplifying the control of each individual electrode segment
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic pulsed electric field delivery with controlled duty cycles, where electrodes are activated in sequences or phases. This periodic activation pattern ensures uniform energy distribution across the treatment area while managing the complexity of simultaneous multi-electrode control through time-division multiplexing
2Reliability
If high energy is delivered to create complete blockage of aberrant electrical pathways, then treatment effectiveness improves, but risk of collateral damage to surrounding tissues increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system delivers energy with locally optimized parameters to each electrode and treatment area. By positioning electrodes to span the inner circumference and controlling energy delivery to specific segments, the treatment achieves complete blockage of aberrant pathways while limiting energy exposure to only the necessary tissue regions, thereby reducing collateral damage
Solution Approach 2:
The energy delivery system incorporates feedback control mechanisms that monitor treatment progress and tissue response in real-time. This allows dynamic adjustment of energy parameters to maintain effective treatment while preventing excessive energy delivery that could cause collateral damage, ensuring treatment effectiveness with minimized harm
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the effectiveness of therapeutic energy delivery, ensuring complete blockage of aberrant electrical pathways and targeted tissue modification without collateral damage, improving treatment outcomes for conditions like atrial fibrillation and pulmonary diseases.
Implementation Method 1
providing pulsed electric field energy to at least one of the plurality of electrodes
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems and devices are provided which transmit energy to a body lumen or passageway in the form of pulsed electric fields (PEFs) and in a manner which provides focal therapy. In some embodiments, PEFs are delivered through independent electrically active electrodes of an energy delivery body, typically in a monopolar fashion. Such delivery concentrates the electrical energy over a smaller surface area, resulting in stronger effects than delivery through an electrode extending circumferentially around the lumen or passageway. It also forces the electrical energy to be delivered in a staged regional approach, mitigating the effect of preferential current pathways through the surrounding tissue. Focal delivery of PEFs can provide increased tissue lethality by employing precise timing and sequencing of energy delivery to the electrodes.