Patent ID: 8690865

Claim:
A method for increasing the permeability of a barrier, comprising the steps of: a) applying an effective amount of an ablation material to a selected site on a surface of a barrier; b) providing a thermal treatment device including a microheater component having at least one microheater, and positioning the thermal treatment device relative to the surface of the barrier; c) energizing the at least one microheater of the microheater component with a power supply component, wherein the power supply component is separate from the thermal treatment device and energizes the microheater component by creating a wireless magnetic field that interfaces between the power supply component and the microheater component; and d) heating the ablation material to a temperature from greater than 100° C. to about 200° C. to induce a phase change in the ablation material, thereby increasing the volume of the ablation material which is effective to ablate the surface of the barrier thereby increasing the permeability of the barrier.