High frequency epidural neuromodulation catheter without needle for effectuating RF treatment
An integrated catheter shaft with a guidewire and a radio frequency wire is used in a catheter to deliver radio frequency energy to a treatment site. The small entry wound and the long integrated catheter shaft allows a user to thread the shaft along a tortuous route along a spinal canal to reach a treatment site while causing a minimal amount of trauma to the patient.
1. A guideable catheter for delivering radiofrequency energy to a treatment site; comprising:
a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end;
a radio frequency open-circuit wire having a transmission site, wherein the wire extends along a first length of the shaft to the distal end of the shaft; and
a radiofrequency adapter that couples a radiofrequency transmitter to the radio frequency wire, wherein a cross-section of the radio frequency wire's transmission site has a tip where the point of the tip forms an angle that aims radio frequency energy from the radiofrequency transmitter through the tip to increase a temperature of the treatment site.
2. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the outer diameter of the shaft is at most 2 mm.
3. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the outer diameter of the shaft is at most 1 mm.
4. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the distal end of the shaft comprises an angulation.
5. The catheter of claim 1 , further comprising a radio frequency insulator at least partially encapsulating the radio frequency wire.
6. The catheter of claim 5 , wherein the radio frequency insulator encapsulates all but a distal end of the radio frequency wire.
7. The catheter of claim 1 , further comprising a radio frequency adapter coupled to a proximal end of the radio frequency wire.
8. The catheter of claim 7 , wherein the adapter is selected from the group consisting of a radal adapter and a tuohy-borst adapter.
9. The catheter of claim 7 , wherein the radio frequency adapter transmits pulses of radiofrequency energy to the radiofrequency wire.
10. The catheter of claim 7 , wherein the radio frequency adapter transmits an electrical current to the radiofrequency wire.
11. The catheter of claim 1 , further comprising a fluid passageway within the shaft concurrently extending along a second length of the shaft to an injection port at the distal end of the shaft.
12. The catheter of claim 11 , wherein the fluid passageway extends to a second injection port at the distal end of the shaft.
13. The catheter of claim 11 , further comprising a guidewire concurrently extending along a third length of the shaft.
14. The catheter of claim 11 , wherein the fluid passageway accepts medication to flow out of the injection port.
15. The catheter of claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor extending along a fourth length of the shaft.
16. The catheter of claim 15 , further comprising a machine coupled to the temperature sensor and the radiofrequency wire that stops transmission of radiofrequency energy to the radiofrequency wire when a temperature detected by the temperature sensor rises above a first threshold temperature.
17. The catheter of claim 16 , wherein the first threshold temperature is 42° F.
18. The catheter of claim 16 , wherein the machine resumes transmission of radiofrequency energy to the radiofrequency wire when the temperature falls below a second threshold temperature.
19. The catheter of claim 18 , wherein the second threshold temperature is 38° F.
20. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the distal end of the shaft is blunt.
21. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein a cross-section of the distal end of the shaft is an angled polygon.
22. The catheter of claim 21 , wherein the angled projection forms an edge from the cross-section of the distal end to a blunt tip of the distal end.
23. The catheter of claim 21 , wherein the distal end tapers from the cross-section having the angled polygon to a cross-section having spherical shape.
24. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein a cross-section of the distal end of the shaft is tear-shaped.
25. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the catheter comprises stainless steel.
26. The catheter of claim 1 , further comprising a guidewire concurrently extending along a second length of the shaft.
27. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the guidewire is a temperature sensor.
28. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the angle of the point of the tip is formed by a pair of flat walls.
29. The catheter of claim 1 , wherein the angle of the point of the tip is formed by a pair of concave walls.