A method for anesthetizing a human patient undergoing surgery and/or pain block procedure, the method comprising sterilizing the patient's skin including a target region, the target region including a surgical site including the patient's spine; inserting at least one cryo-needle into a first tissue region, the cryo-needle having a distal end configured to cool surrounding patient tissue, the first tissue region comprising soft tissue superficial to the one or more vertebra and on a first lateral side of the patients spine; cooling the distal end of the cryo-needle to cause cooling of surrounding patient tissue thus inhibiting one or more sensory nerves in the surrounding patient tissue; thereafter, performing spinal surgery on the patient's spine at the surgical site; and, thereafter, performing an erector spinae plane block to further inhibit nerves post-operatively in the target region.

A method for anesthetizing a human patient undergoing surgery and/or pain block procedure, the method comprising sterilizing the patient's skin including a target region, the target region including a surgical site including the patient's spine; inserting at least one cryo-needle into a first tissue region, the cryo-needle having a distal end configured to cool surrounding patient tissue, the first tissue region comprising soft tissue superficial to the one or more vertebra and on a first lateral side of the patients spine; cooling the distal end of the cryo-needle to cause cooling of surrounding patient tissue thus inhibiting one or more sensory nerves in the surrounding patient tissue; thereafter, performing spinal surgery on the patient's spine at the surgical site; and, thereafter, performing an erector spinae plane block to further inhibit nerves post-operatively in the target region.

Treatment systems, methods, and apparatuses for improving the appearance of skin or other target regions are described. Aspects of the technology are directed to improving the appearance of skin by tightening the skin, improving skin tone or texture, eliminating or reducing wrinkles, increasing skin smoothness, or improving the appearance sites with cellulite. Treatments can include cooling a surface of a patient's skin and detecting freezing in the cooled skin. The tissue can be cooled after the freeze event is detected so to maintain the frozen state of the tissue to improve the appearance of the treatment site.

Treatment systems, methods, and apparatuses for improving the appearance of skin or other target regions are described. Aspects of the technology are directed to improving the appearance of skin by tightening the skin, improving skin tone or texture, eliminating or reducing wrinkles, increasing skin smoothness, or improving the appearance sites with cellulite. Treatments can include cooling a surface of a patient's skin and detecting freezing in the cooled skin. The tissue can be cooled after the freeze event is detected so to maintain the frozen state of the tissue to improve the appearance of the treatment site.

Damaged, diseased, abnormal, obstructive, cancerous or undesired neural tissue treated by delivering specialized pulsed electric field (PEF) energy to target tissue areas. In some instances, the target tissue includes a tumor, a benign tumor, a malignant tumor, a cyst, or an area of diseased tissue. Most brain and spinal cord tumors develop from glial cells. These tumors are sometimes referred to as a group called gliomas. They arise from the supporting cells of the brain, called the glia. These cells are subdivided into astrocytes, ependymal cells and oligodendroglial cells (or oligos). One difficulty in the treatment of gliomas is that they are behind the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-tumor barrier (BTB) which leads to poor delivery of anti-cancer drugs or immune agents to the tumor-infiltrated brain. Devices, systems and methods are provided that treat the tumor directly, such as by ablation, and optionally transiently disrupt the BBB coupled with adjuvant antibody, biologic, or other pharmaceutical interventions.

Embodiments described herein are directed to a system for providing alternating freeze and thaw cycles. The system includes a controller, a vessel for holding a working fluid, a pressure generator, a cooler, a cooler heat exchanger, a heater, a heater heat exchanger, a check valve, and a treatment instrument. In some embodiments, the treatment instrument includes a distal end, a proximal end, a connecting portion adjacent to the proximal end, a needle element adjacent the distal end, a handle portion disposed between the proximal and distal end, and a depth-limiting element to limit an injection depth of the needle element.

Embodiments described herein are directed to a system for providing alternating freeze and thaw cycles. The system includes a controller, a vessel for holding a working fluid, a pressure generator, a cooler, a cooler heat exchanger, a heater, a heater heat exchanger, a check valve, and a treatment instrument. In some embodiments, the treatment instrument includes a distal end, a proximal end, a connecting portion adjacent to the proximal end, a needle element adjacent the distal end, a handle portion disposed between the proximal and distal end, and a depth-limiting element to limit an injection depth of the needle element.

Methods for treating and managing pain in a patient with therapeutic neuromodulation and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. Chronic or debilitating pain can be associated, for example, with a disease or condition of the abdominal or reproductive viscera. One aspect of the present technology is directed to methods that at least partially inhibit sympathetic neural activity in nerves proximate a target blood vessel of a diseased or damaged organ of a patient experiencing pain. Targeted sympathetic nerve activity can be modulated at least along afferent pathways which can improve a measurable parameter associated with the pain of the patient The modulation can be achieved, for example, using an intravascularly positioned catheter carrying a therapeutic assembly, e.g., a therapeutic assembly configured to use electrically-induced, thermally-induced, and/or chemically-induced approaches to modulate the target sympathetic nerve.

A device, system, and method for treating an area of tissue and evaluating lesion formation and quality. The system may include a medical device having a plurality of mapping electrodes on a treatment element, the plurality of mapping electrodes being configured to record from the area of tissue at least one of unipolar impedance measurements, bipolar impedance measurements, local electrical activity, and pace threshold measurements before, during, and after circulation of the cryogenic fluid within the treatment element. These measurements may be transmitted to a control unit having processing circuitry configured to compare pre-treatment measurements, in-treatment measurements, and/or post-treatment measurements to each other and/or to threshold values to determine occlusion and/or lesion quality, such as lesion transmurality.

A device, system, and method for treating an area of tissue and evaluating lesion formation and quality. The system may include a medical device having a plurality of mapping electrodes on a treatment element, the plurality of mapping electrodes being configured to record from the area of tissue at least one of unipolar impedance measurements, bipolar impedance measurements, local electrical activity, and pace threshold measurements before, during, and after circulation of the cryogenic fluid within the treatment element. These measurements may be transmitted to a control unit having processing circuitry configured to compare pre-treatment measurements, in-treatment measurements, and/or post-treatment measurements to each other and/or to threshold values to determine occlusion and/or lesion quality, such as lesion transmurality.