A trajectory guiding apparatus and one or more methods associated therewith for facilitating precision-guided alignment and implantation of a DBS therapy device in a patient. Orthogonally disposed first and second arcuate racks are independently actuatable by respective pinion drives, wherein the first arcuate rack is coupled to a base support and the second arcuate rack is operative to support a slider assembly arranged to accommodate an instrumentation column (IC) containing the therapy device. The first pinion drive is actuatable to cause a first curvilinear motion of the second arcuate rack including the slider assembly, the first curvilinear motion defined along a first arcuate path on a first perpendicular plane. The second pinion drive is actuatable to cause a second curvilinear motion associated with the slider assembly including the IC, the second curvilinear motion defined along a second arcuate path congruent with the second arcuate rack's curvature and disposed on a second perpendicular plane orthogonal to the first perpendicular plane.

Methods and apparatuses (systems, devices, etc.) for treating biological tissue to evoke one or more desirable biological and/or physiological effects using pulsed electric fields in the sub-microsecond range at very low electric field strength (e.g., less than 1 kV/cm) but at high (e.g., megahertz) frequencies.

An energy delivery system comprises a transmission member and an antenna at a distal end of the transmission member. The antenna includes a first conductive arm, an insulator extending around the first conductive arm, and a second conductive arm. The second conductive arm includes a coil. The system also comprises a barrier layer surrounding the transmission member and antenna. The barrier layer extends from a proximal portion of the transmission member to a distal portion of the antenna. The system also comprises a jacket surrounding the barrier layer and forming a fluid channel for receipt of a cooling fluid.

A system to treat a patient comprises a user interface that allows a physician to view an image of tissue to be treated in order to develop a treatment plan to resect tissue with a predefined removal profile. The image may comprise a plurality of images, and the planned treatment is shown on the images. The treatment probe may comprise an anchor, and the image shown on the screen may have a reference image marker shown on the screen corresponding to the anchor. The planned tissue removal profile can be displayed and scaled to the image of the target tissue of an organ such as the prostate, and the physician can adjust the treatment profile based on the scaled images to provide a treatment profile in three dimensions. The images shown on the display may comprise segmented images of the patient with treatment plan overlaid on the images.

Methods for treating tissue with irreversible electroporation and immunotherapy are described. The methods include placing a probe in tissue within a human body, wherein the probe has at least a first electrode, applying a plurality of electrical pulses through the first electrode and a second electrode, causing irreversible electroporation (IRE) of the tissue within a target ablation zone, and administering one or more exogenous agents into the tissue within the target ablation zone or to the human, thereby stimulating or otherwise modulating an immune system response within the body.

An antenna system for tissue ablation includes an energy transmission member, a conductive hollow coil member, and a fluid cooling system. The energy transmission member has an inner conductor, an outer conductor, and a dielectric layer between the inner and outer conductors. A portion of the dielectric layer extends distally of a distal end of the outer conductor. The conductive hollow coil member includes a member lumen within a length of the conductive hollow coil member. The conductive hollow coil member is coiled around the portion of the dielectric layer and is separate from the inner conductor. The conductive hollow coil member extends along an entire length of the outer conductor of the energy transmission member. The fluid cooling system is coupled to the conductive hollow coil member for providing a flow of a cooling fluid through the member lumen for cooling the conductive hollow coil member.

This invention relates to high-frequency ablation of tissue in the body using a cooled high-frequency electrode connected to a high frequency generator including a computer graphic control system and an automatic controller for control the signal output from the generator, and adapted to display on a real time graphic display a measured parameter related to the ablation process and visually monitor the variation of the parameter of the signal output that is controlled by the controller during the ablation process. In one example, one or more measured parameters are displayed simultaneously to visually interpret the relation of their variation and values. In one example, the displayed one or more parameters can be taken from the list of measured voltage, current, power, impedance, electrode temperature, and tissue temperature related to the ablation process. The graphic display gives the clinician an instantaneous and intuitive feeling for the dynamics and stability of the ablation process for safety and control. This invention relates to monitoring and controlling multiple ground pads to optimally carry return currents during high-frequency tissue ablation, and to prevent of ground-pad skin burns. This invention relates to the use of ultrasound imaging intraoperatively during a tissue ablation procedure. This invention relates to the use of nerve stimulation and blocking during a tissue ablation procedure.

Disclosed are methods of obtaining zero vergence ultrasound waves for providing sonodynamic therapy with ultrasound waves. The method includes coupling a sonodynamic therapy device with an array of flat piezoelectric transducers to a skin surface. A controller is configured to generate an electrical drive signal at a frequency, modulate the drive signal, and drive the transducer with the modulated drive signal at the frequency to produce a zero vergence ultrasound wave to produce an average acoustic intensity sufficient to activate a sonosensitizer in a treatment region without damaging healthy cells in the treatment region.

Methods of treating tumors by administering compounds to a patient are provided. Compounds such as pro drugs, e.g., 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), may be administered to the patient orally, by injection, intravenously, or topically, which then accumulate preferentially as compounds such as protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) in tumor cells. After such accumulation, compounds such as PpIX are then activated in various aspects to treat tumors cells, thereby treating cancer. Cancers such as glioblastoma may be treated.

A bipolar dissector includes a handle actuatable by squeezing, a housing extending from and coupled to a distal end of the handle, and a shaft coupled to a proximal end of the handle and extending past the distal end of the handle and through the housing to a distal end of the housing. The shaft includes first and second electrical lines extending from a proximal end to a distal end of the shaft and an insulating material electrically insulating the electrical lines from each other and from the handle and the housing. The bipolar dissector also includes a pair of forceps including a first tine and a second tine. The tines extend from the electrical lines at the distal end of the shaft at the distal end of the housing. Squeezing the handle actuates the forceps in the same direction as the squeezing.