Linear Lesion Device

描述（由申请人提供）：心房颤动是一种电 心脏上部泵血腔的功能失常， 和生活方式问题。目前的治疗方法是药物（副作用 和最小的有效性），起搏器（在破坏电气系统后 心脏的，昂贵的和适度有效的），和电绝缘 使用迷宫程序-手术切割心脏， 缝合在一起形成疤痕组织， 途径。这种迷宫手术已被证明是近100%有效， 然而，它是漫长和异常困难的。由于这个概念很有前途， 这种方法正在积极地使用消融导管进行研究， 探针来制造损伤然而，为了隔离电通路， 必须在组织中进行电阻断， 造成透壁损伤的能力有了这些技术， 会发生炭化和广泛的心房损伤，这会增加中风的风险。 我们的技术通过将RF双极能量整合到 器械将快速安全地创建透壁线性损伤， 心内膜到心外膜，在一次应用中，同时保护 周围组织在第一阶段，我们将制造一个原型，并评估我们的 损伤的透壁性和电隔离组织的能力。 拟定商业应用： 我们的技术将克服目前治疗房颤（AF）方法的局限性，可用于心脏直视手术期间治疗AF，并减少术后AF发作的发生。仅这个市场就超过了1.2亿美元/年。可以使用该技术开发的设备具有很强的潜力，可以被纳入微创手术中，为市场潜力增加1.5亿美元。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Atrial Fibrillation is an electrical malfunction of the upper pumping chambers of the heart causing major medical and lifestyle problems. The current treatments are pharmaceutical (side effects and minimal effectiveness), pacemakers (after destroying the electrical system of the heart, expensive and moderately effective), and electrically isolating areas of the heart using the MAZE procedure - surgically cutting the heart and sewing back together creating scar tissue to block malfunctioning electrical pathways. This MAZE procedure has proven to be nearly 100 percent effective, however it is long and extraordinarily difficult. Due to the promising concept, this approach is aggressively being investigated using ablation catheters and probes to create lesions. However, to isolate electrical pathways, a complete electrical block in the tissue must be made and these technologies are limited in their ability to create transmural lesions. With these technologies, charring and extensive atrial damage occur, which can increase risk of stroke. Our technology addresses these issues by incorporating RF Bipolar energy into a device that will quickly and safely create a transmural linear lesion, from endocardium to epicardium, in a single application while protecting the surrounding tissue. In Phase I we will fabricate a prototype and evaluate our lesions for transmurally and ability to electrically isolate tissue. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Our technclogy will overcome the limitations of the current methods of treating atrial fibrillation (AF) and can be used to treat AF during open-heart procedures and to reduce the occurrence of post-operative AF episodes. This market alone exceeds $1.2 BB/year. The devices that can be developed using this technology have a strong potential of being incorporated into minimally invasive procedures adding an additional $1.5 BB to the market potential.