Patent ID: 9579030
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61N

Claim:
1. An apparatus for identifying nerve tissue, the apparatus comprising: an elongate shaft having a distal region configured to be percutaneously deployed within a patient; wherein the elongate shaft comprises an inflatable balloon in the distal region, the balloon having a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration; an active imaging structure disposed on the distal region, the active imaging structure configured to remotely image nerve tissue by exciting a signal in nerve tissue from a percutaneous location and receiving the signal from a percutaneous location; wherein the active imaging structure includes one or more probes; wherein the elongate shaft further comprises a module disposed in the distal region, wherein the one or more probes are disposed on said module, wherein said one or more probes include a photo-acoustic sensor comprising a light-emitter that is configured to emit pulses of coherent light towards targeted nerve tissue and a phased array of ultrasonic transducers configured to detect acoustic return signals generated by the pulses of coherent light in the targeted nerve tissue, wherein said phased array is configured to focus ablation energy onto the targeted tissue at a distance from the phased array such that the ablation energy can pass through a first tissue to ablate the targeted nerve tissue, wherein the module is configured to change a first focal point of the ablation energy during use, and wherein the module further comprises an electrical actuation element disposed within the balloon for rotating the module within the balloon and about a central axis with respect to the balloon and with respect to the elongate shaft; and wherein the module is disposed within a cavity of the balloon and attached to an outer surface of the elongate shaft.