Patent ID: 9700372
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61N

Claim:
1. A minimally-invasive method of intraluminal ablation of nerve tissue surrounding a bodily lumen of a subject, comprising: delivering an ultrasound device within a bodily lumen of a subject, the ultrasound device comprising an elongated catheter and a cylindrical ultrasonic transducer positioned along a distal end of the elongated catheter, the elongated catheter comprising an inflatable balloon positioned to surround the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer and positioned proximal to a distal tip of the elongated catheter, the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer comprising an integral circumferential step machined into the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer to form a resonating region of a first diameter and a non-resonating region of a second diameter, wherein the integral circumferential step is at an end of the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer; advancing the ultrasound device within the bodily lumen to position the ultrasonic transducer adjacent target nerve tissue positioned in nerve pathways that run along and adjacent the bodily lumen; at least partially inflating the inflatable balloon by delivering a cooling fluid through at a fluid passage of the elongated catheter, such that when inflated, the inflatable balloon radially centers the ultrasonic transducer within the inflatable balloon and has a circular cross-sectional shape, coaxial with the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer; circulating the cooling fluid through an interior of the inflatable balloon via the at fluid passage of the elongated catheter during a time when the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer is energized to remove heat away from the cylindrical ultrasound transducer and the interior of the inflatable balloon and to reduce the likelihood of heating a lining of the bodily lumen to the point of irreversible damage, such that ablation of tissue occurs at a depth of 1 mm to 10 mm from a wall of the bodily lumen around an entire circumference of the ultrasonic transducer; energizing the ultrasonic transducer to excite the resonating region of the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer to emit acoustic energy radially outwardly from the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer through the inflatable balloon and toward the wall of the bodily lumen so as to deliver acoustic energy to at least partially ablate nerve tissue adjacent the wall of the bodily lumen, such that acoustic energy is delivered in the radial direction uniformly through the wall of the bodily lumen and toward the target nerve tissue while the non-resonating region of the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer remains unexcited; and removing the ultrasound device from the subject after the cylindrical ultrasonic transducer is de-energized.