Surgery – Instruments – Electrical application
Patent
1998-11-02
2000-12-26
Peffley, Michael
Surgery
Instruments
Electrical application
607101, A61B 1818
Patent
active
061651745
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an instrument for making at least one stripe-shaped transmural lesion in one or more walls of the atria of the heart, which lesion essentially blocks the electrical impulse conduction in a direction crosswise to the stripe-shaped transmural lesion.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
All kinds of heart arrhythmias, and in particular chronic and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, can currently be treated by surgery.
A known surgical procedure (MAZE) was designed to eliminate atrial fibrillation permanently. In this procedure incisions are made with a scalpel in the walls of the atria, in order to block, by the thus formed interruption of the tissue continuity electrical impulse conduction in a direction crosswise to the incisions. As a result of the subsequent scarring, these electrical blocks acquire a permanent character.
This known technique is as yet performed only to a limited extent worldwide, owing to the complexity of the operation. The increased risk is particularly associated with the duration of the operation and the way in which the operation has to be carried out.
The duration of the operation, and in particular the cross-clamp time (x-clamp) is so long that there is a great risk of damage to the heart muscle.
The cross-clamp time required for the MAZE procedure alone is currently still an average of 68 min. (range 50-102 min.), and the necessary time on the heart-lung machine is on average 182 min. (range 130-256 min.). For further data you are referred to Atrial Fibrillations: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies, Futura Publishing Co. Inc. Armonk, N.Y. 1994. J. L. Cox: Surgical Interruption of Atrial Reentry as a Cure for Atrial Fibrillation. The way in which the operation is performed with the scalpel produces an increased risk of vascular suture leaks and subsequent bleeding, due to the large number and location of the vascular sutures involved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an instrument of the abovementioned type which eliminates the abovementioned disadvantages, and which in particular shortens the time required for the operation and reduces the risk of bleeding and damage, therefore reducing the risk for the patient in open-heart surgery.
According to the invention, the instrument indicated is characterized in that the instrument is a probe in which the end which during the operation comes into contact with the wall to be treated is a closed electrode which can interact with an RF power source, while the probe is of a relatively rigid type.
The instrument according to the invention is a probe by means of which in open-heart surgery it is possible to make a permanent change in an atrial wall which is transmural, i.e. it extends over the entire thickness of the wall.
As will be discussed at a later stage, during the performance of the operation the electrode at the end of the probe is brought into contact with the atrial wall to be treated and is moved along it in a linear pattern. On excitation of the electrode with RF power, dielectric (RF) heating of the wall tissue occurs. The RF treatment produces a change in the cell structure of the atrial wall, with the result that electrical impulse conduction in a direction crosswise to the transmural lesion is blocked.
In order to be able to work well with it, the probe must be of a relatively rigid type, so that the electrode can be accurately positioned on and moved along the atrial wall. In the operation no disintegration of the tissue of the atrial wall occurs, and there is no risk of subsequent bleeding. The operation can be carried out on the outside or the inside of the atrium as desired.
Methods of RF heating or dielectric heating are based on the use of heat generated in materials which are relatively poor electrical conductors when they are placed in high-frequency electromagnetic fields. The heat is generated as a result of dielectric losses occurring in a material situated between metal electrodes which form a capacitor which is connected to a
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Jacobs Clemens J.
Sie Tjong Hauw
Clemens Josephus Jacobs
Peffley Michael
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