Patent NZ-722168-A (NZ)
Title: Device for use of photodynamic therapy
Inventor: AGARWAL VIJAY
IPC: A61B18/22
Filed: 2015-01-02
Abstract: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a form of treatment that relies on exposing an area of tissue to a selective wavelength of activating radiation. PDT has been used effectively in oncology for the destruction of malignant cell masses in the body. However, use in the brain has been limited by the lack of proven devices familiar to neurosurgeons to deliver PDT for the treatment of brain tissue. There is a need for a new device for PDT that is useful and effective for other parts of the body in addition to the brain. The present invention provides a non-implantable surgical apparatus that uses a light source and a power supply for minimally invasive surgical treatment of a tissue region of a brain of a patient. The apparatus comprises a housing having a proximal and distal end, and the housing comprises a handle configured to be grasped and manipulated by a surgeon during a surgical procedure and to remain outside of the patient throughout the surgical procedure. The apparatus also comprises a wand extending from the distal end of the housing. The wand comprises an outer shaft having a proximal end and a distal end for positioning within the tissue region of the brain during the surgical procedure. The outer shaft defines a lumen extending between the proximal end and the distal end of the outer shaft. The wand also comprises an end cap having a closed distal end and being coupled to the distal end of the outer shaft. The end cap comprising one or more apertures disposed along a longitudinal surface of the end cap and parallel to a longitudinal axis of the end cap. The wand also comprises an inner fiber optic cable having a distal end and a proximal end adapted to be operatively connected to the light source. The fiber optic cable is configured to be received within the lumen and extend from the proximal end of the shaft to adjacent the distal end of the shaft. The wand also comprises a diffuser element disposed within the end cap and configured to receive light emitted at the distal end of the inner fiber optic cable, and a ball bearing having a reflective outer surface disposed at a distal end of the diffuser element and within the end cap, and configured to reflect light received from the diffuser element laterally and proximally through the one or more apertures. The wand also comprises a piezoelectric ceramic member disposed within the end cap and located distally from the ball bearing, the piezoelectric ceramic member being coupled to wire connectors that extend to the proximal end of the outer shaft where they are adapted to be operatively connected to the power supply. The piezoelectric ceramic member is adapted to deliver sound waves to the tissue region of the brain during the surgical procedure. The piezoelectric ceramic member has a cylindrical shape having a cylindrical axis co-axial with a longitudinal axis of the outer shaft lumen. The fiber optic cable is adapted to deliver light from the light source via the diffuser element and the ball bearing through the at least one aperture of the end cap to the tissue region of the brain in proximity to the distal end of the outer shaft during the surgical procedure.