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.

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.

Provided herein are methods for treating nephrolithiasis and protecting the urothelium and inner lining of the kidney from thermal damage during lithotripsy by use of a thermosensitive bio-adhesive hydrogel. The described method dramatically improved the efficiency and effectiveness of stone clearance compared to conventional techniques while providing protection to the urothelium from potentially damaging temperature spikes.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for locating and identifying nerves innervating the wall of arteries such as the renal artery. The present invention identifies areas on vessel walls that are innervated with nerves; provides indication on whether energy is delivered accurately to a targeted nerve; and provides immediate post-procedural assessment of the effect of energy delivered to the nerve. The methods includes evaluating a change in physiological parameters after energy is delivered to an arterial wall; and determining the type of nerve that the energy was directed to (sympathetic or parasympathetic or none) based on the evaluated results. The system includes at least a device for delivering energy to the wall of blood vessel; sensors for detecting physiological signals from a subject; and indicators to display results obtained using said method. Also provided are catheters for performing the mapping and ablating functions.

The present invention provides a method for treating diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), associated condition or disorder thereof, or symptoms thereof suffered by a subject such as a mammal (e.g. a human patient or a pet), comprising (1) placing one or more electrodes within a target blood vessel of the subject and against the target blood vessel wall, wherein the target blood vessel includes the celiac artery and/or a segment of the abdominal aorta terminated at its junction with the celiac artery; (2) adhering a surface electrode on an external surface such as skin of the subject; and (3) releasing a therapeutically effective amount of radiofrequency energy through the one or more electrodes to nearby tissues, so as to increase the temperature of the nearby tissues and induce a thermal alteration of the nearby tissues.

A catheter for denervation includes a catheter body extending in one direction to have a proximal end and a distal end and having an inner space formed along the longitudinal direction thereof, a movable member provided at the distal end of the catheter body to be movable along the longitudinal direction of the catheter body, an operating member having a distal end connected to the movable member to move the movable member, a plurality of support members having one end connected to a terminal of the catheter body and the other end connected to the movable member, wherein when the movable member moves to decrease a distance between the terminal of the catheter body and the movable member, at least a partial portion of the plurality of support members is bent so that the bending portion moves away from the catheter body, a plurality of electrodes respectively provided at the bending portion of the plurality of support members to generate heat, and a lead wire respectively electrically connected to the plurality of electrodes to give a power supply path for the plurality of electrodes.

Certain aspects relate to systems, devices and techniques for vessel sealing and cutting. In particular, an instrument is provided that is capable of performing multiple functions, including sealing and cutting. The instrument can be robotically controlled, and can include a shaft, a multi-DOF wrist, and an end effector. The end effector is capable of generating and delivering heat via different energy modalities to perform the various functions at different temperatures.

Systems and methods for assessing sympathetic nervous system (SNS) tone for renal neuromodulation therapy are disclosed herein. A system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a detector attached to or implanted in a patient and a receiver communicatively coupled to the detector. The detector can measure cardiac data and the receiver and/or a device communicatively coupled thereto can analyze the cardiac data to provide one or more SNS tone indicators. The SNS tone indicators can be used to determine whether a patient will be responsive to a neuromodulation therapy and/or whether a neuromodulation therapy was effective.

Neuromodulation catheter systems with controlled irrigation capabilities and methods for using such systems are disclosed herein. One such method includes, for example, positioning an irrigated neuromodulation catheter at a treatment site within a renal blood vessel of a human patient, delivering neuromodulation energy at the treatment site, and delivering irrigation fluid to the treatment site having characteristics coordinated with the delivered energy. The characteristics can be adjusted to maintain an energy delivery element and/or tissue of the blood vessel at a constant temperature as power is increased. The method can further include monitoring at least one parameter of the tissue and/or of the energy delivery element, and adjusting the neuromodulation energy and/or the characteristics of the irrigation fluid if the at least one parameter falls outside of a treatment range of values.

A system is provided including an intravascular catheter or guidewire and a processor circuit. The processor circuit determines a metric corresponding to the state of the sympathetic nervous system. The processor circuit then controls the intravascular catheter to alter the blood flow within the vessel. The processor circuit then determines another metric corresponding to the state of the sympathetic nervous system while the blood flow is altered. The processor circuit then provides an output based on the metrics obtained while the blood flow was not altered and while the blood flow was altered.