Selectable eccentric remodeling and/or ablation

摘要

A catheter and catheter system for eccentric remodeling and/or removal of atherosclerotic material of a blood vessel of a patient include an elongate flexible catheter body with a radially expandable structure. A plurality of electrodes or other electrosurgical energy delivery surfaces can radially engage atherosclerotic material when the structure expands. An atherosclerotic material detector near the distal end of the catheter body may measure circumferential atherosclerotic material distribution, and a power source selectively energizes the electrodes to eccentrically remodel the measured atherosclerotic material.

主权项

1. A system for remodeling tissue about a body lumen, the system comprising:
(a) an energy source; (b) a catheter coupled to the energy source, the catheter including an expandable device comprising a plurality of electrodes sequentially positioned along a length of the expandable device in a helical pattern, wherein the expandable device is configurable between an expanded condition and an unexpanded condition, wherein when in the unexpanded condition, at least some of the plurality of electrodes are longitudinally and circumferentially offset relative to adjacent electrodes, wherein the expandable device moves from the unexpanded condition to the expanded condition upon activation of a release mechanism, wherein the system is configured to remodel a target tissue while inhibiting damage to collateral tissue; and (c) a controller configured to selectively energize a subset of the plurality of electrodes.