The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 11, 2003
Filed:
May. 07, 1998
John D. Dobak, III, Del Mar, CA (US);
Terry L. Brown, San Diego, CA (US);
Kambiz Ghaerzadeh, San Jose, CA (US);
Xiaoyu Yu, San Diego, CA (US);
CryoGen, Inc., San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
A miniature refrigeration system and method of operation. A primary refrigerant is pressurized by a compressor to a relatively low pressure, for safety reasons. The compressed primary refrigerant is passed through a primary-to-secondary heat exchanger, to precool the gas mixture. The secondary side of the primary-to-secondary heat exchanger is cooled by a secondary refrigeration system. The primary refrigerant exiting the primary outlet of the primary-to-secondary heat exchanger passes to a primary Joule-Thomson expansion element where the high pressure gas is expanded to a lower temperature. This low temperature gas cools a heat transfer element mounted in the outer wall of the catheter or cryoprobe, to cool surrounding tissue. Return gas can flow back through a distal primary-to-primary heat exchanger to further cool the incoming high pressure gas mixture. A proximal primary-to-primary heat exchanger can be added between the primary-to-secondary heat exchanger and the primary compressor.