Appeal 2007-2813
Application 10/685,744
heating and necrosis, saline may be injected into the target region before
delivering electrical energy” and that this generally involves delivering
saline from a syringe through a needle advanced into the tissue, and then
energizing electrodes from an electrosurgical probe advanced into the target
region to deliver RF energy (id. at 1-2).
Because of inhomogeneities in the tissue of the target region,
however, the saline injected by the syringe may not be perfused
into the target region in a desired manner. For example, the
saline may be perfused into tissue away from the electrodes, or
only locally within a portion of the target region. Thus, the
tissue within the target region may not be uniformly heated and
necrosed as desired, possibl[y] requiring multiple treatments to
ensure that the target region is successfully necrosed. In
addition, where a separate syringe is used to deliver the saline,
the syringe and probe require separate approaches into the
tissue, complicating access and creating multiple tracks through
the intervening tissue that may need to be closed and allowed to
heal.
(Id. at 2.)
The Specification describes an apparatus “for delivering electrical
energy to tissue within a patient, the apparatus including a tubular member
having a proximal end, a distal end sized for insertion into a body of a
patient and a lumen extending from the distal end towards the proximal end”
(id. at 3). “One or more needles are extendable from the lumen beyond the
distal end of the tubular member, each needle having a distal tip for
penetrating tissue. At least one . . . of the one or more needles has an
infusion lumen for delivering fluid to an outlet in its distal tip.” (Id.) A
“distal portion of the needle(s) may include a conductive region defining an
electrode” (id.).
2
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Last modified: September 9, 2013