Balloon catheter with flexible electrode assemblies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9060756-B2
Application number	US-201213413533-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2012
Priority date	May 27, 2008
Publication date	Jun 23, 2015
Grant date	Jun 23, 2015

Abstract

In some implementations, a method of ablating body tissue includes (a) locating an inflatable balloon portion of a cryotherapy balloon catheter at a treatment site internal to a patient's body, and inflating the inflatable balloon portion; (b) employing electrodes that are disposed on an expandable surface of the inflatable balloon portion to electrically characterize body tissue at the treatment site; (c) ablating the body tissue by supplying a cryotherapy agent to the inflatable balloon portion to cool the body tissue to a therapeutic temperature; (d) employing the electrodes to determine whether the ablating caused desired electrical changes in the body tissue; and (e) repeating (c) and (d) when it is determined that the ablating did not cause the desired electrical changes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
a catheter extending along a longitudinal axis;
a balloon coupled to an end of the catheter; and
a plurality of separate flexible electrode assemblies circumferentially spaced apart from each other and attached to an outer surface of the balloon, each electrode assembly comprising a polymeric substrate, a plurality of conductive members extending longitudinally along an outer surface of the polymeric substrate, and an insulator disposed over at least a portion of each of the conductive members;
wherein at least one of the flexible electrode assemblies include a distal electrode and a separate proximal electrode that are spaced apart longitudinally from each other and are defined along at least one of the conductive members, defined along at least one of the conductive members.

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one heat sensing device.

3. A device, comprising:
an elongated catheter;
an expandable balloon associated with the catheter; and
a plurality of circumferentially spaced flexible circuits extending longitudinally along a surface of the expandable balloon, the flexible circuits spaced apart from each other such that regions of the balloon are viewable between the flexible circuits, each flexible circuit including a polymeric substrate, a plurality of conductive members extending longitudinally along an outer surface of the polymeric substrate, and an insulator disposed over at least a portion of each of the conductive members;
wherein each flexible circuit includes at least a distal electrode and a separate proximal electrode, wherein the distal electrode and the proximal electrode are spaced apart axially and circumferentially relative to each other, wherein the flexible circuits are secured to the expandable balloon.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein each flexible circuit includes at least one opening extending completely through the flexible circuit.

5. The device of claim 3 , wherein the distal and proximal electrodes are separated by an intermediate element.

6. A medical device, comprising:
a catheter shaft having a distal region;
an expandable balloon attached to the distal region;
a plurality of flexible circuits coupled to the expandable balloon;
wherein each of the flexible circuits includes a polymeric substrate secured to an outer surface of the balloon, a conductive member extending longitudinally along the polymeric substrate, and an insulator disposed along the conductive member, wherein the plurality of flexible circuits are separate elements, spaced circumferentially from each other; and
wherein a proximal electrode and a distal electrode are defined at separate locations spaced apart longitudinally along at least one of the plurality of flexible circuits at regions of the conductive member where the insulator is absent.

7. The medical device of claim 6 , wherein the polymeric substrate includes a polymeric sheet that is wrapped about the expandable balloon.

8. The medical device of claim 6 , wherein the polymeric substrate includes a polyimide.

9. The medical device of claim 6 , wherein the conductive member includes copper.

10. The medical device of claim 6 , wherein the conductive member includes two layers.

11. The medical device of claim 10 , wherein the conductive member includes a layer of copper and a layer of platinum.

Assignees

• Bencini Bob
• Ingle Frank
• Koblish Joe
• Tin Rebecca
• Mazzone Jim
• Chun Byron
• Lawrence David
• Boston Scient Scimed Inc

Inventors

• Bencini Bob
• Ingle Frank
• Koblish Joe
• Tin Rebecca
• Mazzone Jim
• Chun Byron
• Lawrence David

Classifications

• A61B18/02 Primary

  by cooling, e.g. cryogenic techniques · CPC title

• A61B5/0422

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61B2018/0212

  using an instrument inserted into a body lumen, e.g. catheter · CPC title

• A61B2018/0022

  Balloons · CPC title

• A61B2018/00017

  with gas · CPC title