Cavitary tissue ablation

Abstract

The invention relates to a tissue ablation system including an ablation device having a deployable applicator head configured to be delivered to a tissue cavity and ablate marginal tissue surrounding the tissue cavity. The deployable applicator head is configured to be delivered to a tissue cavity while in a collapsed configuration and ablate marginal tissue surrounding the tissue cavity while in an expanded configuration.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A medical device comprising:
 a deployable applicator head comprising an expandable outer balloon having a plurality of perforations and an expandable inner balloon configured to maintain separation between an exterior surface of the inner balloon and an interior surface of the outer balloon thereby forming an interior chamber; and   a plurality of conductive wires disposed within the interior chamber and configured to conduct energy to be carried by a conductive fluid passing through one or more of the plurality of perforations, each of the plurality of conductive wires having a substantially constant cross-section along its length.   
     
     
         2 . The medical device of  claim 1 , further comprising a nonconductive handle and a lumen extending therethrough that is in fluid connection with the interior chamber. 
     
     
         3 . The medical device of  claim 1 , wherein the inner balloon is configured to transition from a collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration in response to delivery of a fluid thereto and the outer balloon is configured to correspondingly transition from a collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration in response to expansion of the inner balloon. 
     
     
         4 . The medical device of  claim 1 , wherein, when in an expanded configuration, one or more of the plurality of perforations is configured to allow passage of the conductive fluid from the interior chamber to an exterior surface of the outer balloon. 
     
     
         5 . The medical device of  claim 4 , wherein upon receipt of an electric current, each of the plurality of conductive wires is configured to conduct the energy to be carried by the conductive fluid passing through one or more of the plurality of perforations for ablation of a tissue. 
     
     
         6 . The medical device of  claim 5 , wherein the interior chamber is a plurality of interior chambers. 
     
     
         7 . The medical device of  claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of conductive wires is disposed within a separate one of the plurality of interior chambers. 
     
     
         8 . The medical device of  claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of conductive wires extends from a proximal end of the separate one of the plurality of interior chambers to a distal end of the separate one of the plurality of interior chambers. 
     
     
         9 . The medical device of  claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of conductive wires, or one or more sets of a combination of conductive elements, is configured to independently receive an electrical current from an energy source and independently conduct energy. 
     
     
         10 . The medical device of  claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of conductive elements is substantially aligned with one of the plurality of perforations. 
     
     
         11 . The medical device of  claim 6 , wherein the inner balloon comprises an irregular exterior surface comprising a plurality of ridges or protrusions oriented along a longitudinal axis of the inner balloon. 
     
     
         12 . The medical device of  claim 11 , wherein the irregular exterior surface comprises the plurality of ridges, each pair of adjacent ridges of the plurality of ridges is configured to define each of the plurality of interior chambers. 
     
     
         13 . The medical device of  claim 2 , wherein the lumen is a first lumen and second lumen and the inner balloon is configured to receive a first fluid from the first lumen and the outer balloon is configured to receive a second fluid from the second lumen. 
     
     
         14 . The medical device of  claim 13 , wherein at least the second fluid is the conductive fluid. 
     
     
         15 . The medical device of  claim 13 , further comprising a controller configured to independently control delivery of the first fluid and the second fluid to the inner balloon and to the outer balloon, respectively. 
     
     
         16 . A medical device comprising:
 a deployable applicator head comprising a self-expandable mesh body;   an electrical element configured to deliver an electric current to the self-expandable mesh body when in an expanded configuration; and   a nonconductive handle having a lumen extending therethrough that is in connection with the self-expanding mesh body.   
     
     
         17 . The medical device of  claim 16 , wherein the lumen is configured to deploy the self-expandable mesh body into a predefined shape in the expanded configuration and to receive the self-expandable mesh body therein in a collapsed configuration. 
     
     
         18 . The medical device of  claim 17 , wherein the self-expandable mesh body is comprised of an electrically conductive material and upon receipt of the electric current, is configured to conduct and deliver the electrical current to target tissue. 
     
     
         19 . The medical device of  claim 18 , wherein the self-expandable mesh body comprises a nonconductive webbed coating covering one or more portions of the self-expandable mesh body. 
     
     
         20 . The medical device of  claim 19 , wherein the nonconductive webbed coating comprises a plurality of perforations configured to allow passage of a fluid to an outer surface of the self-expandable mesh body when in the expanded configuration.