Patent ID: 8396548

Claim:
A catheter system for selective drug delivery to a body tissue being disposed about a lumen, the system comprising: an elongate catheter having a proximal end and a distal end with an axis therebetween, the catheter having a radially expandable balloon near the distal end and an energy delivery portion proximate the balloon for transmission of energy, wherein the energy delivery portion comprises a plurality of electrodes mounted on a surface of the expandable balloon; a thermally changeable coating having a releasable drug coupled to the balloon, the thermally changeable coating being oriented to be urged against the body tissue when the expandable balloon expands; and an energy source operatively coupled to the plurality of electrodes with a controller configured to selectively energize one or more electrodes of the plurality of electrodes to selectively heat and liquefy a portion of the thermally changeable coating to release the drug to the body tissue, wherein the portion is less than the entire coating, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprise a plurality of bipolar electrode pairs disposed about the expandable balloon, the controller configured to selectively energize selected electrode pairs of the plurality to heat and liquefy portions of the thermally changeable coating between the electrode pairs to release the drug to the body tissue.