Patent ID: 7992572

Claim:
A method of evaluating to eliminate or treat an individual having been previously diagnosed with a reversible obstructive pulmonary disease as a candidate for a treatment procedure to reduce the ability of a lung of the individual to produce a reversible obstructive pulmonary disease symptom by delivering energy to an airway wall within the lung of the individual, the method comprising: performing a pulmonary function test on the individual to obtain a measured total lung pulmonary function value; comparing the measured total lung pulmonary function value to a corresponding predetermined efficacy pulmonary function value that defines an efficacy threshold for the procedure in patients that have been diagnosed with the reversible obstructive pulmonary disease; and treating the individual with the treatment procedure only if the measured total lung pulmonary function value meets the efficacy pulmonary function value, wherein treating the individual includes (a) inserting an energy delivery device into an airway of the lung of the individual and (b) actuating the energy delivery device multiple times as the energy delivery device is moved along the airway to deliver energy along the length of the airway wall at a plurality of treatment sites to form a repeating pattern of treated segments extending along the length of the airway such that the ability of the airway to contract is reduced.