Appeal No. 2003-1655 Page 5
Application No. 09/800,706
Burton's invention is directed to an apparatus and method for treatment of
conditions in which it is desired to simultaneously hyperthermally treat diseased target
tissue in a patient and dilate a lumen of a patient which is compressed and/or
obstructed by the diseased target tissue and/or surrounding tissue. The apparatus
generally includes a catheter for insertion into a lumen of the patient, such as in the
prostatic urethra; an antenna for applying microwave or radio frequency energy to the
selected target tissue to produce hyperthermal effects therein, thereby causing
therapeutic alteration of the selected target tissue cells; a dilation balloon for
simultaneously dilating the lumen of the patient and for compressing tissue to restrict
blood flow to said tissue, thereby reducing the heat sink effect of blood-supplied tissue
absorbing heat energy applied thereto, enabling both greater uniformity of heating in
selected target diseased tissue and a reduction in the amount of power required to
supply an effective level of energy to the selected target diseased tissue; and a fixation
balloon for securing the apparatus during treatment. The apparatus and method are
particularly adapted to the treatment of diseases of the prostate, such as benign
prostatic hypertrophy, prostatitis and prostatic cancer, as well as in the treatment of
certain tumors of the esophagus and the gastro-intestinal tract.
Afzal's invention relates to catheters used to return oxygenated blood from a
cardiopulmonary bypass machine to a patient during cardiac surgery. More
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007