Patent ID: 9549772
Date: 2017-01-24
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A method for delivering cryogenic energy to an intervertebral disc and/or a vertebral body, the method comprising: forming a hole within the intervertebral disc and/or the vertebral body; inserting a cryoprobe into the intervertebral disc and/or the vertebral body, wherein said cryoprobe comprises a distal tip and a cryogenic energy transmissive region located proximate to said distal tip, and further wherein the cryogenic energy transmissive region comprises an expandable balloon; activating said cryogenic energy transmissive region; and delivering cryogenic energy through said cryogenic energy transmissive region of the cryoprobe and into the intervertebral disc and/or the vertebral body for one or more time periods so as to apoptose cells within or proximate to the intervertebral disc and/or the vertebral body, wherein at least one of the quantity and directionality of said cryogenic energy may be regulated.