A balloon for renal nerve modulation is disclosed. The balloon may include a polymer material forming a balloon wall having an outer surface and flexible circuits comprising a base selectively adhered to the exterior surface of the balloon wall. Adhesive is selectively applied to the outer surface of the balloon, to the flexible circuit or to both such that the adhesive is selectively deposited on the at least a portion of the at least two pads or on the at least a portion of the at least two pads and to a portion of the distal spline. The portion of the at least two pads or the portion of the at least two pads and a portion of the distal spline are adhered to the outer surface of the balloon and a remainder of the flexible circuit moves freely with respect to the outer surface of the balloon.

The disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a flexible circuit electrode assembly and an apparatus manufactured by said method. According to the method, an electrically conductive sheet is laminated to an electrically insulative sheet. An electrode is formed on the electrically conductive sheet. An electrically insulative layer is formed on a tissue contacting surface of the electrode. The individual electrodes are separated from the laminated electrically insulative sheet and the electrically conductive sheet. In another method, a flexible circuit is vacuum formed to create a desired profile. The vacuum formed flexible circuit is trimmed. The trimmed vacuum formed flexible circuit is attached to a jaw member of a clamp jaw assembly.

A flexible tip electrode for an ablation catheter is disclosed. The catheter includes a catheter body and a hollow elongate tip electrode disposed at a distal end of the catheter body. The electrode includes a sidewall provided with one or more elongate gaps extending therethrough. The one or more elongate gaps providing flexibility in the sidewall for bending movement of the tip electrode relative to a longitudinal axis of the catheter body.

An ablation catheter including an elongate shaft, an inflatable balloon positioned at a distal region of the elongate shaft, a first ablation electrode disposed outside of and carried by an outer surface of the inflatable balloon, a first ultrasound transducer disposed outside of the inflatable balloon, and a flexible circuit. The flexible circuit includes a first conductor and a second conductor and is disposed outside of and carried by the outer surface of the inflatable balloon. The first conductor is in electrical communication with the first ablation electrode, and the second conductor in electrical communication with the first ultrasound transducer.

Disclosed herein are tissue ablation devices and methods. The device comprises a sheath comprising a distal end that is positionable at an ablation site in the tissue, a proximal end and a lumen extending therebetween. The device also comprises one or more electrodes that are advanceable and retractable through the lumen, wherein a distal portion of the one or more electrodes is deployable into a tissue ablating configuration from the distal end of the sheath upon advancement, and the one or more electrodes are removable from the lumen via the proximal end of the sheath upon retraction, whereupon the lumen becomes vacated. The sheath is configured for a surgical material to traverse the vacated lumen for delivery from the distal end of the sheath into the tissue.

A surgical instrument comprising a motor assembly, a shaft defining a shaft axis, a distal head, a rotary drive member, and a distal head lock member movable between a first position where the distal head is unlocked from the shaft and a second position where the distal head is locked to the shaft is disclosed. The motor assembly comprises a motor and a controller configured to operate the motor in first and second operating modes. The distal head comprises an end effector movable between an open configuration and a closed configuration. The distal head is rotated about the shaft axis when the distal head lock member is in the first position and the rotary drive member is actuated. The end effector is moved from the open configuration toward the closed configuration when the distal head lock member is in the second position and the rotary drive member is actuated.

A medical device and a medical system that can reduce supply of energy to an energy transmission element without performing an operation of pressing the energy transmission element against a biological tissue. The medical device includes an expandable body, a shaft portion connected to the expandable body, an energy transmission element provided in the expandable body, a housing connected to a proximal end portion of the shaft portion, a displacement shaft that compresses the expandable body in an axial direction, an operation knob that is capable of moving with respect to the housing, a detection unit that is housed in the housing and that detects compression of the expandable body caused by the displacement shaft, an electric wire that is capable of being connected to an electric power supply device for supplying electric power to the energy transmission element, and that extends to the energy transmission element.

An electrode apparatus for nerve denervation or modulation in body includes a main body including a shaft; an electrode unit formed to be drawn out from one end of the shaft and configured to denervate or modulate at least some of nerves on a tube in the body; and an electrode guide deformed into a wound state to bring the electrode unit into contact with the tube in the body. The electrode guide includes a body portion which is spaced apart from the electrode unit to enclose the circumference of the tube in the wound state; and a coupling portion which is connected to the end of the body portion and to which an end of the electrode unit is fixed.

A thin walled balloon formed in polymer tubing has a patterned metal layer on its outer surface, created by physical vapor deposition (PVD). The pattern is defined by a stencil mask assembled around the balloon, with the balloon inflated therein. The PVD occurs without deforming or degrading the polymer material of the balloon, by actively pulling heat away from the balloon a) by forming the stencil mask out of metal; b) by providing a metal heat conduction path away from the balloon to a heat sink, such as outside the vacuum chamber, and/or c) by flow of a cooling fluid within the balloon during the PVD process. Proper PVD process parameters are selected to minimize heat generation, such as having argon pressure in the range of 0.8 to 1.2 milli-torr and generating the plasma at a power of less than about 200 watts/square inch of effective target surface area.