There are a variety of treatment modalities that may be delivered to treat a diseased tissue. Endometrial ablation, for example, is a medical procedure that is used to remove (ablate) or destroy the endometrial lining of a uterus. This technique is most often employed to treat women who suffer from excessive or prolonged bleeding during their menstrual cycle and who either cannot or do not wish to undergo a hysterectomy. Such heavy menstrual bleeding is most commonly due to dysfunctional uterine bleeding or adenomyosis.
There are a number of challenges to delivering treatment to tissue that is located within body cavities and lumens which are not easily accessible to the physician. Moreover, it is often difficult to deliver the appropriate treatment to the entirety of the tissue surface due to irregular convolutions and contouring of the tissue surface. This difficulty is further compounded by fact that each patient presents his or her own unique anatomical features and differences, that a one size fits all approach cannot be employed and the treatment or delivery system must be customized to accommodate the patient's unique anatomy.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds