Patent ID: 11963706
Assignee: PACIRA CRYOTECH, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 8:
9. A method for cryogenically treating target tissue for alleviating pain, said method comprising:
providing a cryogenic device having a tissue penetrating needle probe, wherein the tissue penetrating needle probe has a plurality of spaced apart tissue penetrating needles, each of the plurality of spaced apart tissue penetrating needles having a distal portion, a proximal portion, a length less than 5 cm and a diameter in a range from about 0.006 inches to about 0.1 inches, and wherein adjacent needles of the plurality of spaced apart tissue penetrating needles are spaced apart between 0.25 mm and 2 mm, wherein each of the plurality of spaced apart tissue penetrating needles comprises:
an outer lumen extending distally toward a distal end of the needle, and
an inner lumen extending distally within the outer lumen, wherein the inner lumen comprises a distal opening that is open to the outer lumen;
advancing the distal portion of each of the plurality of spaced apart tissue penetrating needles through a skin surface into the target tissue;
cooling the target tissue below the skin surface with the distal portions of the plurality of spaced apart tissue penetrating needles, wherein the cooling includes delivering a cooling fluid from a cooling fluid source disposed within a handpiece of the cryogenic device to each of the spaced apart tissue penetrating needles via a fluidic pathway, the handpiece having a size and shape suitable for supporting a hand of an operator, and the fluidic pathway comprising the cooling fluid source, the inner lumen, and the outer lumen of each of the spaced apart tissue penetrating needles;
applying a warming energy to collateral tissue near the target tissue, wherein the warming energy is applied along the skin surface with a heater on a surface of the cryogenic device proximal to the distal ends of the plurality of spaced apart tissue penetrating needles to prevent collateral tissue damage by avoiding visible necrosis of dermal tissues of the skin surface; and
remodeling the target tissue such that the remodeled target tissue temporarily alleviates the pain.