CONDUCTIVE INTERSTITIAL THERMAL THERAPY DEVICE

摘要

An apparatus and method for thermally destroying tumors in which heat generated by a laser (50) or by an electrical resistance heating element (13) is conducted to the target tissue. Computerized scanning is used to optimize the geometry of a thermal probe. A probe has a thermally conductive tip (10) heated by a remote laser or by electrical resistance heating. The tip may be mounted on the end of a wave guide fiber (51) for transmitting laser radiation to the tip (10). The tip (10) is coated with a thin layer of biocompatible coating (15) to avoid coagulated tissue sticking to the tip. The tip (10) has one or more thin, thermally-conductive elements which deploy in stages to coagulate the tumor. The conductive elements may be thin wires (16) or blades (30). In one embodiment, the conductive elements are composed of a shape memory material that is folded against the tip (10) at lower temperatures and deploys at selected higher temperatures. In another embodiment, the conductive elements are blades that are deployed mechanically. The tip (10) may be provided with a miniature thermocouple to provide temperature feedback information.