Methods and apparatuses are provided for reducing sweat production via, for example, the removal, disablement, and incapacitation of sweat glands in the epidermis, dermis and subdermal tissue regions of a patient. In one embodiment, a method of treating a patient is provided which involves identifying a patient having a condition of excessive sweating, positioning an energy delivery device proximate to a skin tissue of the patient and delivering energy to sweat glands to halt secretion of sweat. The energy delivery device may include microwave delivery devices, RF delivery devices, and cryogenic therapy devices. Some embodiments may include using a cooling element for avoiding destruction of non-target tissue and/or a suction device to localize treatment at specific portions of the skin fold.

Described herein are various implementations of systems and methods for accessing and modulating tissue (for example, systems and methods for accessing and ablating nerves or other tissue within or surrounding a vertebral body to treat chronic lower back pain). Assessment of vertebral endplate degeneration or defects (e.g., pre-Modic changes) to facilitate identification of treatment sites and protocols are also provided in several embodiments. Several embodiments comprise the use of biomarkers to confirm or otherwise assess ablation, pain relief, efficacy of treatment, etc. Some embodiments include robotic elements for, as an example, facilitating robotically controlled access, navigation, imaging, and/or treatment.

An electrosurgical system includes a radiofrequency (RF) generator having a controller configured to detect an occurrence of a vaporization point of target tissue and a vaporization duration between commencement of delivery of the RF energy and the occurrence of the vaporization point. The controller can apply the vaporization duration to adjust a parameter during subsequent electrode activation, such as RF power level, an electrode activation sequence, a distance between activated electrodes, and a number of activated electrodes. The controller can apply the vaporization duration to determine if whether a predetermined depth of effect has been reached for use in subsequent parameter adjustments.

The present invention relates to a monitoring apparatus for monitoring an ablation procedure. The monitoring apparatus comprises an ultrasound signal providing unit for providing an ultrasound signal that depends on received echo series of an object that is ablated. The monitoring apparatus further comprises an ablation depth determination unit for determining an ablation depth from the provided ultrasound signal. The ablation depth can be determined directly from the ultrasound signal and is an important parameter while performing an ablation procedure. For example, it can be used for determining the progress of ablation within the object and for determining when the ablation has reached a desired progression.

An ultrasound exposure safety processor is configured for spatially relating respective definitions of an imaging zone, and an extended dead-tissue zone that includes both a dead-tissue zone and a surrounding margin. Based on whether a push pulse focus is to be within the extended dead-tissue zone, the processor automatically decides a level of acoustic power with which the pulse is to be produced. If the pulse focus is to be within the extended dead-tissue zone, the pulse may be produced with a mechanical index (MI), a thermal index (TI), and/or a spatial-peak-temporal-average intensity (IspTA) that exceeds respectively 1.9, 6.0 and 720 milliwatts per square centimeter. The imaging zone may be definable interactively to dynamically trigger the deciding and the producing, with push pulse settings being dynamically derived automatically. A display of multiple push pulse sites allows user manipulation of spatial definition indicia to dynamically control displacement tracking.

In certain embodiments, an ophthalmic surgical system for ablating tissue of an eye comprises controllable components (such as a light source and a scanner), optical elements, and a computer. The light source generates a light beam comprising pulses, where a propagation direction of the light beam defines a z-axis. The scanner directs a focal point of the light beam in an xy-plane orthogonal to the z-axis. The optical elements shape and focus the focal point of the light beam at a treatment region of the eye. The computer instructs one or more of the controllable components to generate the light beam comprising the pulses, where each pulse has a fluence greater than 1 J/cm.sup.2. An optical element of the optical elements focuses the focal point of the light beam with a spot size of less than 0.4 mm at the treatment region according to a focal spot pattern.

An ultrasound apparatus of a body cavity insertable type includes: a handpiece; a supporting rod which is elongated from the handpiece; an ultrasound probe which is connected to the supporting rod and is configured to be able to be inserted in the body cavity; and a sealing cover which is separably coupled to the ultrasound probe to at least partially surround the ultrasound probe in a longitudinal direction from a distal end thereof. The ultrasound probe includes: a piezoelectric element; and a housing to which the piezoelectric element is mounted. An end of the housing is connected to the supporting, and the housing is provided with an ultrasound passing hole which is disposed outside the supporting rod. The sealing cover has an ultrasound passing window which is formed at a position corresponding to the ultrasound passing hole.

A computing device for generating and using a graphical user interface (GUI) is disclosed. The computing device includes one or more controllers configured to generate a graphical representation of a plurality of electrodes of an ablation catheter for displaying via the GUI; designate, via the GUI, at least some of the plurality of electrodes to be active electrodes; automatically designate the active electrodes as a source electrode or a sink electrode; assign an amount of energy to each of the designated source electrodes; and estimate an amount of energy associated with each of the designated sink electrodes based at least in part on the assigned energy of the designated source electrodes.

Described herein are various implementations of systems and methods for accessing and modulating tissue (for example, systems and methods for accessing and ablating nerves or other tissue within or surrounding a vertebral body to treat chronic lower back pain). Assessment of vertebral endplate degeneration or defects (e.g., pre-Modic changes) to facilitate identification of treatment sites and protocols are also provided in several embodiments. Several embodiments comprise the use of biomarkers to confirm or otherwise assess ablation, pain relief, efficacy of treatment, etc. Some embodiments include robotic elements for, as an example, facilitating robotically-controlled access, navigation, imaging, and/or treatment.

Embodiments of medical treatment including skin treatment using electrical energy, especially with the primary purpose for skin treatment for aesthetics are described generally herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.