Methods and apparatus for non-invasively treating atrial fibrillation using high intensity focused ultrasound

1. A method of non-invasively treating atrial fibrillation in a heart of a patient, the method comprising:

providing a housing having an ultrasound imaging system and a high intensity focused ultrasound system disposed in alignment with the ultrasound imaging system;

inserting the housing into a body lumen of the patient with the housing located at a treatment location spaced from a target site on a posterior wall of the heart at which a lesion is to be formed to interrupt electrical conduction in the posterior wall so as to treat atrial fibrillation, wherein said inserting the housing into the body lumen includes inserting the housing into the patient's esophagus so that the treatment location is in the esophagus;

operating the ultrasound imaging system to generate an image of a portion of the heart containing the target site; and

while the housing is located at the treatment location, operating the high intensity focused ultrasound system, guided by the image, to ablate cardiac tissue at the target site so as to interrupt electrical-conduction pathways on the posterior wall of the heart, while patient tissue intervening between the housing and the cardiac tissue is not ablated.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating and displaying a marker corresponding to a focal point of the high intensity focused ultrasound system on the image.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising modifying a location of the target site by adjusting a location of a focal point of the high intensity focused ultrasound system.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment location is more than 5 mm from the target site.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the ultrasound imaging system comprises an array of imaging elements and the high intensity focused ultrasound system comprises an array of HIFU elements, wherein at least one of the imaging elements is not used as a HIFU element.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the housing is positioned at the treatment location without the use of anesthesia.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the high intensity ultrasound system is operated to create at least one of linear lesions and encircling lesions at the target site.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein a focal point of the high intensity ultrasound system is moved along a desired trajectory on the posterior wall of the heart while the high intensity ultrasound system is operating to create a continuous linear lesion.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the focal point is moved without moving the housing.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the high intensity ultrasound system comprises a plurality of HIFU elements each mounted to a separate steerable actuator, and wherein the actuators are steered to move a focal point of the high intensity ultrasound system along a desired trajectory while the high intensity ultrasound system is operating.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the posterior wall of the heart is the left atrial wall.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said operating the high intensity focused ultrasound system consists essentially of operating the high intensity focused ultrasound system so as to form one or more vertical ablation lines in the posterior wall of the left atrium.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, during said operating the high intensity focused ultrasound system, flowing, within a water jacket, a fluid around the high intensity focused ultrasound system to remove heat generated by the high intensity focused ultrasound system so as to inhibit damaging esophageal tissue.

14. A method of non-invasively treating atrial fibrillation in a heart of a patient, the method comprising:

providing a housing configured and dimensioned for placement in the patient's esophagus with an ultrasound imaging system and a high intensity focused ultrasound system disposed in alignment with the ultrasound imaging system disposed within the housing;

inserting the housing into the esophagus, with the housing located at a treatment location spaced from a target site on a posterior wall of the heart;

operating the ultrasound imaging system to generate an image of a portion of the posterior wall of the heart containing the target site;

forming a lesion with the high intensity focused ultrasound system in the posterior wall of the heart at the target site to interrupt electrical conduction pathways in the posterior wall, while patient tissue including the esophageal wall intervening between the housing and the posterior wall of the heart is not ablated; and

guiding said lesion forming with said image during said forming.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising protecting the esophageal wall and tissue intervening between the housing and the posterior wall of the heart.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said protecting comprises circulating fluid around the high intensity focused ultrasound system to prevent tissue damage.