Patent ID: 9486355
Filing Date: 2016-11-08
CPC Classification: A61B,A61F,A61N

Claim Text:
1. A method for heating a body tissue region adjacent a body lumen, the region having both a first tissue type and a second tissue type, the method comprising: positioning an energy delivery portion of a catheter within the lumen adjacent the body tissue region to be heated, wherein the energy delivery portion comprises a plurality of electrodes radially engageable with the body lumen; engaging the body lumen with the plurality of electrodes, wherein the plurality of electrodes engaged against the body lumen complete a plurality of circuits, wherein at least some of the circuits include a first tissue type and a second tissue type while other circuits include a first tissue type without the second tissue type; determining a pulse characteristic in response to a thermal property of the first tissue type; and applying controlled pulsed electrical energy with the pulse characteristic from the energy delivery portion through the plurality of circuits without identifying which of the plurality of circuits include the second tissue type so as to heat both the first and second tissue type by thermal conduction, thereby therapeutically treating the second tissue type within the body tissue region by drawing heat from the first tissue type at a rate that avoids significant thermal damage to the first tissue type while building-up heat in the second tissue type.