By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Drug Week — A patent application by the inventors SHIU, BRIAN (SUNNYVALE, CA); BRANNAN, JOSEPH D. (ERIE, CO); PRAKASH, MANI N. (BOULDER, CO), filed on February 25, 2014, was made available online on July 3, 2014, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents (see also Covidien Lp).
This patent application is assigned to Covidien Lp.
The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present disclosure relates to microwave antennas. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to microwave antennas having a reactively-loaded loop configuration defining a portion of a radiating section of the microwave antenna.
“Microwave ablation procedures, e.g., such as those performed for menorrhagia, are typically done to ablate the targeted tissue to denature or kill the tissue. Many procedures and types of devices utilizing electromagnetic radiation therapy are known in the art. Such microwave therapy is typically used in the treatment of tissue and organs such as the prostate, heart, and liver.
“One non-invasive procedure generally involves the treatment of tissue (e.g., a tumor) underlying the skin via the use of microwave energy. The microwave energy is able to non-invasively penetrate the skin to reach the underlying tissue. Typically, microwave energy is generated by a power source, e.g., microwave generator, and transmitted to tissue via a microwave antenna that is fed with a coaxial cable that operably couples to a radiating section of the microwave antenna.
“For optimal energy delivery efficiency from the microwave generator to the microwave antenna, impedance associated with the coaxial cable, the radiating section and/or tissue need to equal to one another, i.e., an impedance match between the coaxial cable, the radiating section and/or tissue. In certain instances, an impedance mismatch may be present between the coaxial cable, the radiating section and/or tissue, and the energy delivery efficiency from the microwave generator to the microwave antenna is compromised, e.g., decreased, which, in turn, may compromise a desired effect to tissue, e.g., ablation to tissue.”
In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “The present disclosure provides a microwave ablation system. The microwave ablation system includes a power source. A microwave antenna is adapted to connect to the power source via a coaxial cable feed including an inner conductor defining a portion of a radiating section of the microwave antenna, an outer conductor and dielectric shielding. The inner conductor loops back around and toward the outer conductor of the coaxial cable feed such that a distal end of the inner conductor is operably disposed adjacent the dielectric shielding. The inner conductor includes one or more reactive components disposed thereon forming a reactively-loaded loop configuration.
“The present disclosure provides a microwave antenna adapted to connect to a power source for performing a microwave ablation procedure. The microwave antenna includes a coaxial cable feed including an inner conductor defining a portion of a radiating section of the microwave antenna, an outer conductor and dielectric shielding. The inner conductor loops back around and toward the outer conductor of the coaxial cable feed such that a distal end of the inner conductor is operably disposed adjacent the dielectric shielding. The inner conductor includes one or more reactive components disposed thereon forming a reactively-loaded loop configuration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
“The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
“FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a microwave ablation system adapted for use with a microwave antenna that utilizes a reactively-loaded loop configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
“FIG. 1B is a perspective view of another type of microwave antenna that utilizes a reactively-loaded loop configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and is adapted for use with the microwave ablation system depicted in FIG. 1A;
“FIG. 2A is partial, cut-away view of a distal tip of the microwave antenna depicted in FIG. 1B illustrating a radiating section associated with microwave antenna;
“FIG. 2B is a cross-section view taken along line segment ‘2B-2B’ illustrated in FIG. 2A;
“FIG. 3 is partial, cut-away view of the distal tip of the microwave antenna depicted in FIG. 1B illustrating an alternate embodiment of the radiating section depicted in FIG. 2A;
“FIG. 4 is partial, cut-away view of the distal tip of the microwave antenna depicted in FIG. 1B illustrating a conductive shield operably positioned adjacent the radiating section depicted in FIG. 2A;
“FIG. 5 is partial, cut-away view of the distal tip of the microwave antenna depicted in FIG. 1B illustrating a conductive shield operably positioned adjacent the radiating section depicted in FIG. 2A according to an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure; and
“FIG. 6 is partial cut-away view of the distal tip of the microwave antenna depicted in FIG. 1B illustrating a conductive shield operably positioned adjacent the radiating section depicted in FIG. 2A according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.”
URL and more information on this patent application, see: SHIU, BRIAN; BRANNAN, JOSEPH D.; PRAKASH, MANI N. Microwave Antenna Having a Reactively-Loaded Loop Configuration. Filed February 25, 2014 and posted July 3, 2014. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1769&p=36&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20140626.PD.&OS=PD/20140626&RS=PD/20140626
Keywords for this news article include: Electronics.
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