METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RAPID AND SELECTIVE TRANSURETHRAL TISSUE ABLATION

摘要

Catheter systems, tools and methods are disclosed for the selective and rapid application of DC voltage pulses to drive irreversible electroporation for minimally invasive transurethral prostate ablation. In one embodiment, a switch unit is used to modulate and apply voltage pulses from a cardiac defibrillator, while in another, the system controller can be configured to apply voltages to an independently selected multiplicity or subsets of electrodes. Devices are disclosed for more effective DC voltage application including the infusion of cooled fluid to elevate the irreversible electroporation threshold of urethral wall tissue and to selectively ablate regions of prostate tissue alone.

主权项

1. An apparatus, comprising:
an electrode controller configured to be operably coupled to a voltage pulse generator configured to produce a pulsed voltage waveform and a catheter including a plurality of electrodes, the electrode controller implemented in at least one of a memory or a processor, the electrode controller including a feedback module, a thermal control module and a pulse delivery module, the feedback module configured to determine a temperature of a target tissue, the thermal control module configured to produce a signal to control a cooling fluid to the catheter based on the temperature of the target tissue, the pulse delivery module configured to deliver an output signal associated with the pulsed voltage waveform to the plurality of electrodes, the pulse delivery module further configured to shunt an excess current associated with the pulsed voltage waveform.