The invention relates to a catheter ablation device for delivery of energy to a selected region of tissue, the device having an antenna portion including a radiating antenna electrically connectable via an electrical feedline to a source of energy, the antenna configured to generate an electromagnetic field able to ablate tissue in said selected region of tissue, the device including a thermocouple having a hot junction formed by electrical connection between a thermocouple conductor and a conducting part of the electrical feedline. This avoids the need for a dedicated thermocouple conductor pair, as the second conductor of the thermocouple is provided by the feedline used to supply the ablation energy to the device antenna. The thermocouple conductor may be a pull wire, such that its manipulation from a proximal portion of the catheter results in selective manipulation of the catheter at said antenna portion, the hot junction electrical connection providing a point of mechanical connection between the pull wire and the electrical feedline to enable the manipulation.

The invention relates to a catheter ablation device for delivery of energy (such as microwave energy) via a radiating antenna to a selected region of tissue, the device having an elongated catheter with an outer sheath, configured to allow flow of fluid along the catheter to exit through one or more orifices adjacent to the antenna. The device includes an impedance monitoring system having two electrodes arranged respectively inside and outside said catheter sheath, the impedance monitoring system including an electric circuit incorporating an ionic conductivity path through said fluid. The device is introduced into a blood vessel and the invention allows monitoring of changes in the size of the blood vessel during an ablation procedure, as it can be used to measure the impedance of an electrical circuit including a blood path in the blood vessel in the region of the ablation, the measured impedance providing a measure of vascular calibre.

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to apparatuses, systems, and methods that may include a tissue ablation system. The tissue ablation system may include an ablation device; an ablation generator; and a controller configured to cause the ablation generator to apply a first power level to the ablation device and cause the ablation generator to apply a second power level to the ablation device, the second power level being higher than the first power level; the power provided by the ablation generator to the ablation device is adjusted from the first power level to the second power level, adjusting the power from the first power level to the second power level includes causing the ablation generator to provide a plurality of distinct intermediate power levels corresponding to delivering a plurality of intermediate energy levels from the ablation device, and each of the intermediate power levels is between the first power level and the second power level.

The invention relates to an ablation device for delivery of microwave energy to a selected region of tissue, in particular for producing deep endocardial or epicardial ventricular lesions, such as for the treatment or prevention of arrhythmias.

The device includes a microwave radiation antenna electrically connectible via a microwave feedline to an electrical microwave system, the microwave antenna configured to generate a microwave field able to ablate tissue in said selected region of tissue, the antenna positioned within an antenna-receiving portion of an elongated catheter configured to allow fluid flow along the catheter to exit through one or more orifices in the catheter wall, the catheter provided with an electrical sensing system including one or more metal electrodes and being independent of the electrical microwave system, the device configured such that in use the electrical sensing system includes an electric circuit which incorporates an ionic conductivity bridge formed between said one or more metal electrodes and the fluid exiting said one or more orifices, the ionic conductivity bridge traversing said catheter antenna-receiving portion.

Various aspects of the present invention are directed towards apparatuses, systems, and methods that may include a tissue ablation system. The tissue ablation system may include a plurality of ablation devices, each ablation device being configured to provide ablation energy, at least one ablation generator configured to provide ablation power to at least one of the plurality of ablation devices, and a controller configured to cause each of the plurality of ablation devices to selectively receive ablation power and configured to cycle through activation of a plurality of ablation states.

Various control systems for controlling a surgical system according to detected airborne particulate cloud characteristics are disclosed. The control systems can adaptively control various surgical devices, such as surgical instruments and smoke evacuators, according to the configuration or change in state of a surgical smoke cloud or another aerosol detected at a surgical site.

Various surgical control systems for controlling surgical instruments are disclosed. Surgical instruments can be controlled according to sensor data; however, some sensed data can be indicative of different states or conditions of the tissue being acted upon by the surgical instrument and can thus be inconclusive absent additional data. Surgical control systems can thus utilize multiple independent sensor data measurements in order to cooperatively to control a surgical instrument or another linked device.

A device for treating tissue has a plurality of conductors that form one or more transmission lines configured to deliver microwave energy to target tissue. In addition to transmission lines, the device also may include an anchor element used to penetrate the target ablation tissue and anchor the device. A system includes the device, a microwave generator, and a coaxial cable. A biocompatible solution may be injected into the target ablation region to alter tissue properties or to facilitate visualization of the ablation region.

Devices for therapeutic nasal neuromodulation and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. A system for therapeutic neuromodulation in a nasal region configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a shaft and a therapeutic element at a distal portion of the shaft. The shaft can locate the distal portion intraluminally at a target site inferior to a patient's sphenopalatine foramen. The therapeutic element can include an energy delivery element configured to therapeutically modulate postganglionic parasympathetic nerves at microforamina of a palatine bone of the human patient for the treatment of rhinitis or other indications. In other embodiments, the therapeutic element can be configured to therapeutically modulate nerves that innervate the frontal, ethmoidal, sphenoidal, and maxillary sinuses for the treatment of chronic sinusitis.

The present invention relates to comprehensive systems, devices and methods for delivering energy to tissue for a wide variety of applications, including medical procedures (e.g., tissue ablation, resection, cautery, vascular thrombosis, treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and dysrhythmias, electrosurgery, tissue harvest, etc.). In certain embodiments, systems, devices, and methods are provided for treating a tissue region (e.g., a tumor) through application of energy.