Patent ID: 7704259

Claim:
A system for treating an ear of a patient having a tympanic membrane and an external auditory canal, the system comprising: a guide structure comprising; a shaft having a proximal end, a distal end and a probe lumen passing therethrough; a conformable body positioning surface disposed along the shaft closer to the distal end than the proximal end and configured to fittingly engage the external auditory canal without penetrating the tympanic membrane and with sufficient force and/or friction to inhibit movement of the guide structure during treatment of the ear; and a proximal surface that limits axial travel of a treatment probe within the guide structure to inhibit inadvertent injury of tissue structures of the middle or inner ear; a treatment probe oriented by the guide structure, the guide structure maintaining registration of the treatment probe with a target region of the tympanic membrane when the positioning surface engages the external auditory canal with sufficient force to inhibit movement of the guide structure during treatment, the treatment probe comprising; a probe shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein at least part of the probe shaft is slidably disposed within the probe lumen of the shaft of the guide structure; an actuation handle attached to the probe shaft proximal end, the actuation handle including a distal surface that contacts the proximal surface of the guide structure to limit the axial travel of the treatment probe within the guide structure; and a tympanic membrane piercing tip at the distal end of the probe shaft; and a tympanostomy tube releasably carried on the treatment probe proximally of the piercing tip, wherein the tympanostomy tube and the piercing tip of the treatment probe are retractable into the probe lumen after the piercing tip is slidably disposed past the distal end of the shaft of the guide structure, to help avoid injury during insertion of the shaft of the guide structure into the external auditory canal.