Patent ID: 7167741

Claim:
A method for effecting treatment in a patient comprising: identifying a volume in the patient the whole of which volume is to be heated to a required temperature, the volume being defined by a peripheral surface of the volume; heating the volume within the patient by: inserting a probe having a longitudinal axis and a distal end into the patient such that the distal end is in the volume; sending laser energy through the probe; deflecting the laser energy from the distal end of the probe at an angle from the longitudinal angle greater than zero, such that a heating effect of the probe lies in a disk-shaped area surrounding the axis; directing the heat to define a heating zone that forms a limited angular orientation of heating within the disk-shaped area such that as the probe is rotated, the probe causes heating of different angular segments of the volume within the disk-shaped area; with the probe at a fixed axial position, rotating the probe about the axis so that the heating zone lies in a selected segment; wherein applying heat to the selected segment causes heat to be transferred from the segment into parts of the volume outside the segment surrounding the end of the probe; and cooling the end of the probe so as to extract heat from the parts surrounding the probe by conduction of heat therefrom wherein cooling the distal end of the probe so as to extract heat from the parts surrounding the probe by conduction of heat therefrom comprises: directing fluid to the distal end of the probe through a supply duct in the probe; vaporizing the fluid in an expansion zone of reduced pressure in the distal end of the probe; retrieving the gas from the probe through a return duct in the probe that is between 200 and 250 times larger in cross-sectional area than the supply duct.