Appeal 2007-2813
Application 10/685,744
The Specification also discloses that “at least a distal portion of the
needle(s) may be formed from a porous material, e.g., a sintered stainless
steel” (id.). The Specification indicates that an “advantage of using a
sintered/porous material to form the needle(s) is that visibility of the distal
portion of the needle(s) under certain imaging modalities may be enhanced.
For example, the sintered/porous material may substantially increase the
echogenicity of the needle when using ultrasound imaging.” (Id. at 28.) In
addition, “[b]ecause of the porous nature of the sintered material, the saline
may more uniformly permeate the surrounding tissue as compared with a
needle including a lumen having only one or more discrete outlets” (id. at
28-29).
DISCUSSION
1. CLAIMS
Claims 1-16 are pending and on appeal. The claims subject to each
rejection have not been argued separately and therefore stand or fall
together. 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(vii). We will focus on claim 1, which is
representative and reads as follows:
1. An apparatus for delivering electrical energy to tissue
within a patient, comprising:
a tubular member comprising a proximal end, a distal end
having a size for insertion into a body of a patient, and a lumen
extending from the distal end towards the proximal end; and
a needle comprising a distal portion extending at least
partially from the lumen and terminating in a tissue-piercing
distal tip, the distal portion comprising an electrically
conductive and porous material, thereby providing an electrode
through which electrolytic fluid may flow for delivering
electrical energy to tissue surrounding the distal portion.
3
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