Patent ID: 7048756

Claim:
A method for thermally treating a target tissue within the body of a patient, comprising the steps of: (a) determining temperature and treatment interval therapy data for carrying out said treatment of said target tissue; (b) providing one or more passive resonant implants, each having an electromagnetic response of given intensity to an extra body applied interrogational electromagnetic field at a predetermined resonant center frequency only when said implant is at a monitor temperature or temperatures below a target temperature corresponding with said therapy data; (c) providing a heating assembly controllable to derive an output effecting the generation of heat at said target tissue from an application component located externally of said body; (d) providing an interrogation assembly having an antenna assembly and controllable to derive and apply said extra body interrogational electromagnetic field and having a detector output in correspondence with antenna assembly detections of said implant electromagnetic response at said predetermined resonant center frequency; (e) locating said one or more implants at an intra-body location effective for response to temperature at the location of said target tissue; (f) controlling said heating assembly to elevate the temperature of said target tissue; (g) controlling said interrogation assembly to derive and apply said extra body interrogational electromagnetic field to said located one or more implants for an interrogation interval deriving said detector output; and (h) controlling said heating assembly in correspondence with said detector output.