TUNED RF ENERGY AND ELECTRICAL TISSUE CHARACTERIZATION FOR SELECTIVE TREATMENT OF TARGET TISSUES

摘要

A catheter and catheter system can use energy tailored for remodeling and/or removal of target material along a body lumen, often of atherosclerotic material of a blood vessel of a patient. An elongate flexible catheter body with a radially expandable structure may have a plurality of electrodes or other electrosurgical energy delivery surfaces to radially engage atherosclerotic material when the structure expands. An atherosclerotic material detector system may measure and/or characterize the atherosclerotic material and its location, optionally using impedance monitoring.

主权项

1. An apparatus for renal neuromodulation, the apparatus comprising:
a catheter configured for intravascular placement within a renal blood vessel of a human patient; an expandable balloon at a distal portion of the catheter, wherein the expandable balloon is configured to vary between a delivery configuration and a deployed configuration sized to fit within the renal blood vessel; a first electrode having a first pair of bipolar contacts attached to the expandable balloon; and a second electrode having a second pair of bipolar contacts attached to the expandable balloon, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are spaced apart lengthwise and angularly offset from one another when the expandable balloon is in the deployed configuration, wherein each of the first electrode and the second electrode is configured to deliver thermal energy to less than a full circumference of the renal blood vessel of the patient.