A method of reducing tissue volume for treatment of airway obstruction, obstructive sleep apnea, snoring, prostate tumor, and other pathologies comprising: applying a cryoprobe with a diameter preferably less than about 2 mm and with a sharp tip to first freeze the affected interstitial tissue of the soft palate, base of the tongue, tonsils or adenoids, singularly or in combination, or to the prostate, or other tissue, and then applying the same cryoprobe to heat the treated tissue.

American Medical Systems, Inc.

Combined cryotherapy and hyperthermia method for the treatment of airway obstruction or prostrate enlargement

An apparatus and method for treatment of conditions in which it is desired to simultaneously hyperthermally treat diseased target tissue in a patient and dilate a lumen of a patient which is compressed and/or obstructed by the diseased target tissue and/or surrounding tissue is disclosed. The apparatus generally includes a catheter for insertion into a lumen of the patient, such as in the prostatic urethra; an antenna for applying microwave or radio frequency energy to the selected target tissue to produce hyperthermal effects therein, thereby causing therapeutic alteration of the selected target tissue cells; a dilation balloon for simultaneously dilating the lumen of the patient and for compressing tissue to restrict blood flow to said tissue, thereby reducing the heat sink effect of blood-supplied tissue absorbing heat energy applied thereto, enabling both greater uniformity of heating in selected target diseased tissue and a reduction in the amount of power required to supply an effective level of energy to the selected target diseased tissue; and a fixation balloon for securing the apparatus during treatment. The apparatus and method are particularly adapted to the treatment of diseases of the prostate, such as benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), prostatitis and prostatic cancer, as well as in the treatment of certain tumors of the esophagus and the gastro-intestinal tract.

Combined hyperthermia and dilation catheter

A catheter and a method for using the catheter for the transluminal hyperthermic treatment of target tissue is presented. The catheter comprises an elongate tubular member having two coolant circulating lumens and an optical waveguide coextensive therewith, the proximal end of the optical waveguide being adapted to receive light from a light source and the distal end of the optical waveguide terminating in a diffuser tip. The diffuser tip provides a means for radially distributing treatment light from the light source to tissue adjacent to the distal tip of the catheter to heat the tissue. A transparent, inflatable balloon surrounds the diffuser tip. The inflatable balloon permits the flow of an optically transparent coolant around the diffuser tip to cool the tissue immediately adjacent to the diffuser tip to prevent overheating. A method of using the device for the transurethral treatment of benign prostate hypertrophy is presented as an example.

hypertrophy/fièvre

Combined cryotherapy and hyperthermia method for the treatment of airway obstruction or prostrate enlargement

Combined hyperthermia and dilation catheter

Transluminal hyperthermia catheter and method for use

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