Appeal No. 2000-0448
Application No. 08/605,765
We consider this claim to be unpatentable over Guglielmi in
view of Brunelle, essentially for the reasons discussed above
with respect to claim 1. Brunelle discloses, in the part of
pages 414 and 415 quoted supra, that applying high frequency
AC current will cause a local rise in temperature leading to
thermic coagulation of surrounding tissues, and that there is
trauma of the vessel wall. This would constitute a "thermal
reaction at the target site," as claimed, and in practicing
the method of Guglielmi as modified by Brunelle would
inherently induce thrombosis to hold the element (coil) in
place, for as appellant discloses at page 4, lines 18 to 33,
such heating of the luminal wall induces fibrogenic occlusion
of the vessel around the vaso-occlusive element, and at page
6, lines 29 to 31, the fibrogenic occlusion of the vessel
"will slowly and permanently lock the coil in position at the
occlusion site." Appellant’s argument that generating a
thermal reaction would be contrary to Guglielmi’s disclosure
of non-thermally detaching the coil is not persuasive, because
the thermal reaction is in the vessel wall, not in the coil,
which, being made of platinum, a low resistance material,
would itself undergo little if any heating.
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