A prostate therapy system is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the prostate therapy system is that it can access a prostate lobe transurethrally. Another feature of the prostate therapy system is that it can deliver condensable vapor into the prostate to ablate the prostate tissue. Methods associated with use of the prostate therapy system are also covered.

A system for controlling operation of a radiofrequency treatment device to apply radiofrequency energy to tissue to heat tissue to create lesions without ablating the tissue. The system includes a first treatment device having at least one electrode for applying radiofrequency energy to tissue, a controller including a connector to which a first treatment device is coupled for use, and a generator for applying radiofrequency energy to the electrodes. The controller controls application of energy so that the tissue is thermally treated to create lesions but preventing thermal treatment beyond a threshold which would ablate the tissue.

Adjustable distal tips of cold plasma generating devices configured for introduction to and operation within narrow intra-body confines. In some embodiments, a plasma delivery tip of a cold plasma generating device is expandable from a compact delivery configuration, allowing device operation with plasma plume parameters difficult to achieve within size constraints of a narrow delivery catheter and/or endoscope working channel. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, operating parameters of a plasma delivery tip are adjustable to tune characteristics of the plasma plume. Adjustable parameters optionally include, for example: lumen diameter, lumen aperture shape/direction, discharge electrode geometry, dielectric barrier characteristics, and/or relative placement of these components, including placement relative to a stream of ionizing gas. In some embodiments, plasma delivery tip elements are adapted to assist device navigation and/or tissue penetration.

Plasma delivery tips of medical-grade plasma generating devices are configured to exclude potential contaminants while operating within body cavities. In some embodiments, delivery tips are provided with an antechamber, which is optionally filled by pressure of ionizing gas to prevent contamination. Some embodiments are provided with one or more interior and/or exterior valves configured to prevent proximal ingress of contamination to the longitudinal position of the discharge electrode, or at all into the gas delivery lumen. In some embodiments, an expandable distal section of the plasma delivery tip acts as a valve which seals when closed, and when open expands to generate an inflated antechamber into which plasma is delivered.

A needle assembly is configured to be movable into a cavity of a patient having a biological wall. A distal tip section extends from the needle assembly. The distal tip section is configured to form a pass-through hole extending through the biological wall of the patient (as, or while, the needle assembly is urged to move toward the biological wall). The distal tip section is also configured to prevent (at least in part) the removal of a free-floating tissue core from the biological wall as the pass-through hole is formed by the distal tip section.

A system for monitoring gas composition in a surgical cavity during an endoscopic surgical procedure includes an gas recirculation system including a main gas flow circuit for fluid communication with a surgical cavity. The system includes a sensor for monitoring a gas species in a gas flow from a surgical cavity of a patient. The sensor is positioned in a channel branching off from the main gas flow circuit coming from the surgical cavity.

A system for controlling operation of a radiofrequency treatment device to apply radiofrequency energy to tissue to treat tissue to create lesions without ablating the tissue. The system includes a first treatment device having a plurality of electrodes. The electrodes are maintained in axial alignment and fixed radial spacing in retracted and extended positions. The device includes a basket having a plurality of arms. The arms are maintained in a fixed radial spacing in the collapsed position of the basket.

Described is a method and device for dilating a tubular anatomical structure. The device and method can be useful for extracting a blood clot in an artery of a mammal by concentrically irradiating an inner wall of the occluded artery using an ultraviolet (UV) laser beam delivered by an optical fiber having an external or inverted conical tip. Dilation results from photophysical production and release of nitric oxide from the cells lining the arterial wall when UV laser light is projected as a ring beam onto the inner arterial wall. This “minimal contact persistent dilation system” prepares the artery for safer mechanical extraction by thrombectomy, owing to decrease in friction and dissolution of chemical bonding.

A suction or other component of an endoscope system may be cycled on and off or otherwise controlled without requiring direct user input, such as automatically or semi-automatically using a current or historical state of a laser generator, a blurriness or other information from an image of the working area, a count of fragments of a calculi stone, an intraoperative pressure, an intraoperative temperature, or one or more other characteristics of the laser generator or the targeted calculi stone.

An apparatus includes a modular colpotomy cup component and a modular shaft component. The modular colpotomy cup component includes a proximal base, an elongated sleeve, an expanding member, and a colpotomy cup. The proximal base is configured to couple to a distal end of a head of a robotic arm. The modular shaft component includes a coupling body and an elongated shaft. The coupling body is configured to couple to the head of the robotic arm such that the modular shaft component and the modular colpotomy cup component are attached to each other via the head of the robotic arm. The elongated shaft extends distally from the coupling body and is configured to be inserted through the opening of the proximal base such that the coupling body is configured to couple to the head of the robotic arm.