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:
Oct. 12, 2004
Filed:
Sep. 03, 2002
Robert S. Behl, San Jose, CA (US);
Radiotherapeutics Corporation, Natick, MA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides methods, systems, and kits for protecting body tissues which are adjacent to tissues undergoing thermal treatment. The methods, systems, and kits are useful for thermally ablating tumors which lie at or near the surface of an organ, such as the kidney, pancreas, stomach, spleen, and particularly the liver. In radiofrequency and electrosurgical treatment, electrodes may penetrate and heat may dissipate into surrounding tissues and into tissue adjacent to the target organ, thus causing unwanted tissue damage. These risks and others may be lessened or avoided with the use of an interface shield between the target region and adjacent body tissues to shield surrounding organs and tissue from treatment effects.