Granted Patent B2

US 12,653,389 · App. 18/787,263 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Inventors: Omar Amirana (Weston, MA); Kenneth C. Armstrong (Cary, NC); Matthew W. Kay (Kensington, MD); Marco A. Mercader (Arlington, VA); Terrance J. Ransbury (Chapel Hill, NC); Narine Sarvazyan (Potomac, MD)

Assignees: The George Washington University; 460Mecdical, Inc.

A61B1/043A61B1/00009A61B1/00045A61B1/00082A61B1/00186A61B1/05A61B1/0638A61B1/0676A61B1/0684A61B5/004A61B5/0044A61B5/0084A61B5/14503A61B5/14546A61B5/1459A61B5/6853A61B18/00A61B18/1492A61B90/30A61B90/35A61B90/361A61B2018/0022A61B2018/0212A61B2034/301A61B2090/365Y02A90/10

Abstract

Claims (36)

1 . A system for imaging tissue, the system being configured for use in connection with tissue ablation, comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out a method of determining progression of ablation of tissue, the method comprising:

obtaining detected mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrogen (NADH) fluorescence during ablation of tissue,

generating a digital representation of the detected NADH fluorescence for monitoring a progression of the ablation of the tissue, and

while the tissue is being ablated, determining a decrease in the detected NADH fluorescence and updating the digital representation to show the decrease in the detected NADH fluorescence that is indicative of the progression of the ablation of the tissue,

wherein the tissue is illuminated with light from a light source and the detected NADH fluorescence is detected from the illuminated tissue by one or more sensors.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a light source configured to illuminate the tissue to excite NADH in the tissue, wherein light from the light source for illuminating the tissue has at least one wavelength between about 300 nm and 400 nm.

3 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising one or more optical fibers to deliver the light from the light source to the tissue and to deliver the detected NADH fluorescence to the one or more sensors.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors are configured to detect light having at least one wavelength between about 435 nm and about 485 nm.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an ablation device, the ablation device having an energy source selected from the group consisting of radiofrequency energy, microwave energy, electrical energy, electromagnetic energy, cryoenergy, laser energy, ultrasound energy, acoustic energy, chemical energy, and thermal energy.

6 . The system of claim 5 , further comprising an elongate body, and wherein the ablation device is disposed at a distal end of the elongate body.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the tissue is one of skeletal muscle, liver tissue, kidney tissue, and cardiac tissue.

8 . A system for imaging tissue comprising:

one or more sensors being configured to detect NADH fluorescence from illuminated tissue;

one or more processors; and

at least one storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out a method of determining progression of ablation of tissue, the method comprising:

obtaining the detected NADH fluorescence from the one or more sensors during ablation of the tissue using an ablation device,

generating a digital representation of the detected NADH fluorescence for monitoring a progression of the ablation of the tissue, and

updating the digital representation to show a change in the detected NADH fluorescence, wherein a change in the detected NADH fluorescence from the illuminated tissue is indicative of the progression of the ablation of the tissue,

wherein the tissue is illuminated with light from a light source.

9 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising, while the tissue is being ablated, determining a decrease in the detected NADH fluorescence and updating the digital representation to show the decrease in the detected NADH fluorescence throughout the ablation of the tissue.

10 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising an elongate body, the elongate body having the ablation device and an inflatable balloon disposed about a distal end of the elongate body.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the ablation device has an energy source selected from the group consisting of radiofrequency energy, microwave energy, electrical energy, electromagnetic energy, cryoenergy, laser energy, ultrasound energy, acoustic energy, chemical energy, and thermal energy.

12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the light source is a UV light emitting diode (LED).

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more sensors is configured to convert an optical image into an electronic signal.

14 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising one or more optical fibers to deliver the light from the light source to the tissue and to deliver the NADH fluorescence to the one or more sensors.

15 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising a first light source and a second light source capable of generating light of a different wavelength than the first light source.

16 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the tissue is one of skeletal muscle, liver tissue, kidney tissue, or cardiac tissue.

17 . A method for imaging tissue comprising:

generating a digital representation of NADH fluorescence from illuminated tissue detected by one or more sensors for monitoring a progression of ablation of tissue, wherein a decrease in the NADH fluorescence from the illuminated tissue is indicative of the progression of the ablation of the tissue, and

determining a decrease in the NADH fluorescence and updating the digital representation to show the decrease in the NADH fluorescence that relates to the progression of the ablation of the tissue.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising detecting the NADH fluorescence from the tissue during ablation of the tissue using one or more sensors.

19 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising employing one or more optical fibers to deliver light from a light source to the tissue and to deliver the NADH fluorescence to the one or more sensors.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the ablation is performed with radiofrequency energy, microwave energy, electrical energy, electromagnetic energy, cryoenergy, laser energy, ultrasound energy, acoustic energy, chemical energy, and thermal energy.

21 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the tissue is one of skeletal muscle, liver tissue, kidney tissue, or cardiac tissue.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (8)

References Cited (400)