Stabilized Ablation Mechanism with Suction and Thermal Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ablation technologies face challenges in creating consistent and reproducible transmural lesions, particularly on the actively working heart, with issues such as heat sink effects and collateral tissue damage, especially in treating atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias.
Innovation Solution
The use of a flexible stabilizer mechanism with suction capabilities to draw tissue into an inner recess between active and return electrodes, combined with temperature-controlled energy delivery and cooling mechanisms, ensures precise and full-thickness lesions are formed while minimizing collateral damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ablation energy is applied to create lesions on the actively working heart, then therapeutic effect is achieved, but heat sink effects and collateral tissue damage occur
Solution Approach 1:
The ablation catheter is divided into multiple independent electrode segments along its shaft, allowing selective activation of specific segments. This segmentation enables precise control of energy delivery to target only the intended tissue regions while avoiding adjacent healthy tissue, thereby reducing collateral damage while maintaining reliable lesion formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements temperature-controlled energy delivery at each electrode segment independently, with local cooling mechanisms positioned adjacent to the ablation sites. This local quality control allows the system to maintain optimal ablation temperatures at the tissue-electrode interface while preventing excessive heat spread to surrounding healthy tissue, thus eliminating collateral damage while ensuring consistent lesion creation.
2Productivity
If ablation is performed on the moving heart tissue, then therapeutic intervention is achieved, but tissue motion causes inconsistent lesion formation
Solution Approach 1:
The ablation catheter incorporates flexible, movable components including a compliant shaft and steerable tip that can dynamically adapt to heart motion. The electrode segments are positioned on a flexible carrier that allows natural heart movement without dislodging the catheter, maintaining continuous tissue contact and consistent energy delivery despite cardiac contraction and relaxation cycles.
Solution Approach 2:
The system integrates temperature sensors at each electrode segment that provide real-time feedback on tissue temperature during ablation. This feedback is fed to a control system that automatically adjusts energy delivery parameters to maintain target temperature ranges, compensating for variations caused by heart motion and ensuring reproducible lesion formation across multiple ablation sites.
3Area of stationary object
If multiple ablation sites are treated to create long lesions, then comprehensive coverage is achieved, but tissue gaps and heat-related complications increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple electrode segments into a single integrated catheter shaft, allowing simultaneous or sequential activation of adjacent segments to create continuous, long lesions. The flexible carrier integrates all electrode segments in a fixed spatial arrangement, enabling the formation of extended ablation lines without gaps by activating multiple segments in sequence as the catheter is moved or as segments are fired sequentially.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables continuous ablation delivery by maintaining constant tissue contact through the flexible catheter design and by sequentially activating adjacent electrode segments without removing or repositioning the catheter. This continuous action ensures overlapping lesion formation between adjacent segments, eliminating tissue gaps and ensuring complete coverage of the target area.
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 allows for the creation of long, contiguous lesions with minimal tissue gaps and heat-related complications, enhancing the effectiveness of atrial fibrillation treatments and other surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The stabilizer mechanism is configured to deliver suction to a portion of the patient tissue, so as to draw the portion of the patient tissue into the recess
Implementation Method 2
Electromagnetic radio frequency ('RF') energy applied by the electrode heats and eventually kills or ablates the tissue to form a lesion
Implementation Method 3
During the ablation of soft tissue (e.g. tissue other than blood, bone and connective tissue), tissue coagulation occurs, which leads to tissue death
Implementation Method 4
temperature-controlled energy delivery and cooling mechanisms, ensures precise and full-thickness lesions are formed while minimizing collateral damage
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical system for ablating a tissue, the system comprising: (a) an ablation mechanism comprising a first electrode and an opposed second electrode, wherein the ablation mechanism is configured to receive a tissue between the first electrode and the second electrode, and wherein at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode is movable to allow the first electrode and the second electrode to accommodate variable tissue thicknesses therebetween; and (b) a clamping mechanism configured to release and apply clamping pressure to the tissue between the first electrode and the second electrode, where the ablation mechanism is configured to automatically individually adjust at least one of an ablation energy output of the first electrode and an ablation energy output of the second electrode to accommodate variable tissue thicknesses between the first electrode and the second electrode.