the present invention is an apparatus and method for controlling the inflation and deflation of balloon catheters . in its preferred embodiment , the invention requires four steps to properly control the inflation and deflation of the balloon catheter . however , the invention allows for a variety of different implementations in order to accomplish this task . an intermediary control station containing a shut off valve and / or a coolant source may be implemented to assist in properly monitoring , controlling and maintaining the target balloon pressure and / or volume . referring now to the drawing figures in which like reference designations refer to like elements , a first embodiment of a double balloon catheter used in conjunction with the present invention is shown in fig1 a . the catheter 1 includes a handle 2 having a number of proximal connector ports 3 a - 3 d . port 3 a may be a first vacuum connector , having a first vacuum lumen therein , such as a 10 french lumen . port 3 b may be a coaxial connector having both a vacuum lumen and injection therein , the vacuum lumen being a second vacuum lumen , such as a 8 french lumen . port 3 c may be an electrical connector . port 3 d may be a guidewire luer hub . the handle 2 further includes a blood detection board 4 and pressure relief valve 5 . the distal end portion of the catheter 1 includes two balloons : an inner balloon 6 a and an outer balloon 6 b surrounding inner balloon 6 a . a soft distal tip 7 is loacted just distal to the two balloons 6 a and 6 b . when refrigerant is injected into the balloons along lines r as shown , vacuum applied through the ports 3 a and 3 b will serve to draw any fluid within balloons 6 a and 6 b along arrows v out of the balloons and the catheter . radiopaque marker bands m are located proximate the exit point of the refrigerant injected into balloon 6 a to aid in the positioning and tracking of the device . catheter 1 includes an elongate shaft having a guidewire 8 and an inner shaft 9 a and outer shaft 9 b . exemplary embodiments of the inner shaft 9 a include an 8 french shaft , while exemplary embodiments of the outer shaft 9 b include a 10 french shaft . a typical catheter system 10 is shown in fig1 b . the system includes a console 20 coupled to one end of an umbilical system 12 . the opposing end of umbilical system 12 is coupled to an energy treatment device 22 . energy treatment device 22 may be a medical probe , a catheter , a balloon - catheter , as well as other devices commonly known in the art that are smooth enough to pass easily through blood vessels and heart valves . as shown in fig1 a , the energy treatment device 22 includes a balloon structure 23 that can be a single wall or a double wall configuration , wherein the double wall configuration places the space between balloon walls in communication with a vacuum source . umbilical system 12 is comprised of three separate umbilicals : a coaxial cable umbilical 14 , an electrical umbilical 16 and a vacuum umbilical 18 . an outer vacuum umbilical is used in the case of a double balloon system ; it is not necessary for a single balloon system having only one vacuum lumen . if the user wishes to perform an rf ablation procedure , radiofrequency energy can be provided to electrodes on device 22 via electrical umbilical 16 to perform an rf ablation technique as is common in the art . electrical umbilical 16 can include an ecg box 82 to facilitate a connection from electrodes on catheter 22 ( not shown ) to an ecg monitor . coaxial umbilical 14 includes both a cooling injection umbilical and a vacuum umbilical that provide respective inlet and return paths for a refrigerant or coolant used to cool a tissue - treating end of device 22 . the vacuum umbilical 18 is used as safety conduit to allow excess coolant or gas to escape from device 22 if the pressure within the balloon on device 22 exceeds a predefined limit . the vacuum umbilical 18 can also be used to capture air through a leak of the outer vacuum system where it is outside the patient and as a lumen to ingress blood when in the patient . referring once again to fig1 b , catheter system 10 may include one or more sensors #, which are used to monitor the amount of fluid or gas refrigerant injected through the umbilical system and into the balloons . it is contempaltd that the sensors may be located in one of several locations throughout catheter system 10 . for example , sensor 11 may be located in console 20 , ecg box 82 , and / or handle 2 . two different types of sensors are contemplated for use with the present invention in order to monitor how much coolant is flowing into the balloons . a flow sensor 13 shown in fig1 c , measures the rate or speed of fluid or gas at a certain location . an examplary embodiment of flow sensor 13 is the microbridge mass air flow sensor by honeywell ®. alternately , one or more sensors 11 may be a pressure sensor 15 as shown in fig1 d . pressure sensor 15 in fig1 d is a differential pressure sensor that can determine the amount of pressure in the balloons by determining the differnecne in pressure between points p 1 and p 2 and the velocity through the restriction point d . an exemplary embodiment of pressure sensor 15 is the 26pc smt pressure sensor by honeywell ®. fig2 a - 2e illustrate different embodiments of the catheter system 10 of the present invention . in general , the inflation / deflation system described herein can be used with both single and double balloon systems . for a single balloon system , the refrigerant is sprayed into the baloon and creates a circumferential region of cooling arough the balloon &# 39 ; s perimeter . the refrigerant expands and the vapor is drawn back into the console via the return vacuum lumen . with respect to a double ballon system , a second balloon and second vacuum lumen envelop the single balloon system and are always maintained under vacuum for safety reasons . the vacuum of the outer balloon will capture refrigerant escaping through any breach of the inner balloon system . a flow switch mounted on the outer vacuum system is used to monitor any flow activity . under normal operation , no fluid should pass through the outer vacuum system . any discussion of a “ flow switch ” herein implies a double balloon system . otherwise , all inflation / deflation methods also apply to a single balloon catheter . each embodiment includes a console 20 or console 21 , an umbilical system comprised of varying combinations of separate umbilicals , and an ablation device 22 . each of the embodiments shown in fig2 a - 2e is represented by more detailed corresponding schematics in fig7 - 11 , respectively , and are discussed in greater detail below . fig2 a represents a typical catheter ablation system 10 . console 20 is coupled to a catheter 22 via an umbilical system 12 , comprised of coaxial umbilical 14 , which transfers coolant from console 20 to catheter 22 and provides a return conduit for the coolant , electrical umbilical 16 , which transfers rf energy from console 20 to catheter 22 during an rf ablation procedure or electrical signals during a cryoablation procedure , and safety vacuum umbilical 18 , to allow for quick evactuation of coolant if needed . coolant is provided by a coolant source within console 20 . coolant , typically n 2 o , passes through the internal piping of console 20 before being transferred to catheter 22 via the coaxial umbilical 14 . at the distal end of the umbilical , inside catheter 22 , the coolant is released inside the catheter tip cavity , which is under vacuum . both the phase change from liquid to gas and the sudden expansion of the coolant are endothermic reactions , causing a temperature differential which results in the catheter tip or balloon freezing . the coolant vapor is then returned through the vacuum path via umbilical 14 and into console 20 , where it is evacuated through a scavenging line . fig2 b represents another catheter ablation system . however , in this embodiment , an intermediary station 74 is inserted into the catheter system . as explained in greater detail below , station 74 contains detection valves to detect a drop in balloon pressure which might indicate a leak , and shut off valves to terminate balloon inflation if necessary . station 74 is coupled to console 21 and catheter 22 via electrical umbilical 16 and coaxial umbilical 14 . vaccuum umbilical 18 provides an emergency evacuation path for coolant from the catheter . fig2 c represents the catheter ablation system of fig2 a including a secondary coolant source 78 used to re - inflate the expandable membrane , or balloon 23 of catheter 22 via syringe 76 . fig2 d illustrates two possible configurations for the ablation system . in a first configuration , a secondary coolant source includes a small tank or canister 80 located within an intermediary station 74 . in a second configuration , the secondary coolant source includes a small tank or canister 60 located inside the console 21 . in both configurations , the secondary coolant source is independent from the source of cooling provided by other components within the console 21 ( the primary coolant source ), and it does not require the same type of refrigerant that is provided by the primary coolant source . fig2 e illustrates a configuration where the secondary cooling source and the primary cooling source are unified and thus share the same source of refrigerant . fig3 refers to a schematic representing the console 20 portrayed in fig2 a and 2c . the schematic shown is designed specially for balloon catheters and contains a series of two and three - way solenoid valves and regulators that assist in monitoring the pressure of the balloon catheter 23 , which may drop quickly if a leak of fluid occurs . device 22 ( shown in fig2 a - 2e ) is a catheter with an expandable membrane 23 at its distal end . console 20 is represented by the schematic in fig3 that shows the layout of the internal mechanical components of console 20 . in an exemplary embodiment , the system is operated in four phases . the first phase is the evacuation / flushing phase . when the catheter 22 is inserted inside the patient it is first necessary to evacuate air molecules from within the catheter , air contained inside the umbilical connecting the catheter 22 to the console 20 , as well as from the catheter shaft itself . although it is not theoretically possible to evacuate 100 % of the air molecules , by minimizing the amount of air within the umbilical and catheter shaft , the catheter is prepared for inflation and then ablation , while minimizing the dangers associated with fluid egress . during the evacuation / flushing phase , a 3 - way solenoid valve 24 is open toward vacuum pump 26 , which ensures that there is a vacuum in catheter 22 . the 3 - way solenoid valve 24 can be replaced by a pid - driven proportional valve . in either configuration , the 2 - way solenoid 28 that supports high pressure is closed to prevent any high - pressure gas from reservoir 30 from entering the inner vacuum system / balloon catheter during the refilling process . reservoir 30 could be a tube or reservoir containing enough fluid volume to fill the umbilical tubes and catheter 22 to a predefined pressure . if the pressure within reservoir 30 exceeds a predetermined pressure setpoint , a check valve 32 will open to evacuate the exceeded amount of coolant such as , for example , nitrous oxide ( n 2 o ) in the system in order to keep a fixed amount of nitrous oxide in reservoir 30 . during this phase , reservoir 30 is filled with n 2 o received from n 2 o source 60 . the n 2 o is received from a high pressure line after leaves tank 60 and passes through a series of regulators , namely , a first regulator 34 , a second regulator 36 and then into either a third regulator 38 or a proportional valve , that are adjusted to the predetermined pressure . the reservoir pressure can be controlled through a pressure regulator 38 or through a proportional valve that would refill the tank with different pressure setpoints for different balloon sizes or different inflation pressures . the pressure setpoint can be programmed into a circuit , chip or other memory device that can be located in the handle . refilling valve 40 opens for a period of time and fills reservoir 30 . during this phase , the 2 - way solenoid valve 28 remains closed . also , during this phase , the system is under vacuum and provides verification for any leaks that occur . thus , when the the catheter is outside the patient , any breach of the inner or outer vacuum systems will be detected by a high baseline flow through the console flow meter . in addition , a flow switch located in the console or in the catheter handle and mounted on the outer vacuum system will also detect a leak of air through a breach of the outer balloon or vacuum lumen . the flow switch is capable of detecting volumes of gas as little as 1 cc of vapor , and flow rates as little as 20 sccm . when the catheter is inserted into the patient , blood ingress through either the inner or outer vacuum lumens or both will be detected by the leak and blood detection systems . in the case of a constant pressure inflation with circulating flow , the balloon pressure can also be controlled with a pid - driven proportional valve located on the return vacuum lumen or a three - way solenoid valve in series with a pressure switch or pressure transducer . referring to fig4 , the inflation phase of the invention will now be discussed . prior to positioning catheter 22 on the ablation site , the physician must first inflate the expandable membrane 23 inside the heart chamber and then position the balloon 23 proximate the ablation site . during this phase , the system is under vacuum and provides verification for leaks between balloon 23 and the blood . in one embodiment , balloon 23 is inflated by injecting fluid or gas through the umbilical under a fixed flow pressure . this insures a defined and constant pressure inside the balloon in order to provide a mechanical force for inflation . an alternate way to inflate balloon 23 is to use a fixed volume of inflation . this volume would be minimized in order to meet the constraints related to gas egress within the blood stream ( maximum of 20 cc within 10 minutes ) and meet the requirement for pressure needed to inflate the balloon under the harshest room conditions . fig3 illustrates the inflation portion of the console mechanics of fig2 . during the inflation phase , valve 24 is open toward reservoir 30 and valve 28 opens , while refilling valve 40 remains closed . a fixed amount of n 2 o is injected to inflate balloon 23 in order to provide sufficient mechanical force for inflation . if a leak occurs in the balloon , the released volume of n 2 o would be no more than 20 cc . the solenoid valve 44 ( shown in fig3 ) remains open during this phase in order to ensure a vacuum in the safety line . if a leak occurs in the inner balloon of the catheter , the flow switch 42 ( fig3 ), detects leaks as small as 1 cc of vapor . flow switch 42 is active during all phases to prevent any leak of the inner balloon system in catheter 22 . the leak and blood detection systems are still active and monitoring any blood ingress through the outer bacuum lumen . after air has been flushed from catheter 22 and the umbilicals connecting catheter 22 to console 20 , and balloon 23 has been inflated , ablation may now take place . a transition mode follows inflation but precedes ablation . in the case of cyrogenic ablation systems , a transition method is needed to transition from closed pressurized volume to an open circuit , which allows the flow of refrigerant to enter and exit the catheter tip while at the same time contrilling the balloon pressure in order to keep the balloon inflated and in place . during the transition , a pressure switch , which is adjusted to a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure but preferably lower than 20 psia , monitors the pressure inside the balloon catheter 22 . the solenoid valve 24 remains closed until the pressure in the catheter is higher than the preset switch value after which the solenoid valve opens to allow evacuation of excess refrigerant . when the pressure falls below the reset switch value , the solenoid valve 24 closes to keep the balloon inflated and above atmospheric pressure . during the transition , ablation is already initiated but the pressure switch controls the balloon pressure until refrigerant flow alone maintains the balloon open and above atmospheric pressure . the transition phase is considered complete when certain conditions are met : 1 ) when the pressure switch commands the solenoid valve 24 to open to vacuum and the balloon pressure remains above the present switch value ; 2 ) the duration of the transition phase exceeds a predetermined time ; and 3 ) the injection pressure reaches a predetermined value that is adequate to generate enough flow to maintain the balloon open . check valve 56 is used to prevent any abnormal rise in the pressure in the catheter tip . another check valve 58 , shown also in fig6 , prevents any excessive pressure in the safety vacuum line and in in the event the soloenoid valve 44 is blocked . during the ablation phase , refrigerant is injected through the umbilical system into the ablation device 22 . when injection of refrigerant is desired , n 2 o gas is released from source 60 and provides high pressure liquid through a check valve 62 and a series of pressure regulators 34 and 36 . regulators 34 and 36 are primary and secondary pressure regulators respectively , which serve to bring the gas pressure down to between 810 and approximately 840 psig . the liquid nitrous oxide goes through a proportional valve 64 driven by a proportional integral derivative ( pid ) controller 66 so that the refrigerant pressure can be varied from 0 psig to approximately 760 psig , and through an injection solenoid valve 68 which remains open . the n 2 o then passes through a sub - cooler 70 with various refrigeration components such as a compressor , a condenser , a capillary tube and a heat exchanger , which insures its liquid state through the umbilical and into the small diameter catheter injection tubing . during injection , solenoid vent valve 46 is closed . to detect a failure of this valve , the pressure switch 72 will close when detecting a pressure higher than 15 psig , creating a failure signal . during the injection phase , proportional valve 64 is used to vary the pressure inside the injection line . this in turn will vary the flow rate of refrigerant to the catheter tip . an increase in the flow rate ( less restriction by the regulator ) lowers the temperature of the catheter tip . conversely , decreasing the flow rate allows the catheter tip to be warmed by its surroundings . fig5 illustrates the deflation and main path circuitry of the present invention . at the end of the ablation phase , the system provides a method to insure a controlled / slow deflation in order to prevent damaging the ablated tissue during balloon deflation . this can be a hazard due to cryoadhesion , which may occur when the catheter attaches to the tissue during freezing . referring to both fig3 and 5 , during deflation , the solenoid valve 24 ( fig3 ) remains closed until the temperature in the balloon is higher than a predetermined temperature ( usually above freezing to ensure that surrounding tissue has thawed ). when the temperature increases to greater than the predetermined temperature , the solenoid valve 24 opens to vacuum and collapses the balloon . on both vacuum paths , liquid sensors and insulated liquid sparators 48 and 50 ( fig3 ) are installed to prevent any liquid from entering the vacuum pump 26 . if this occurs , injection and / or inflation will be stopped and both valves 52 ( fig3 ) and 44 ( fig3 ) will switch to atmosphere . fig6 illustrates the safety vacuum portion of the console circuitry of fig3 . if a leak occurs in the catheter during inflation or ablation , flow switch 42 can detect such a leak in amounts as small as 1 cc of vapor . upon detection of the leak , inflation of the balloon catheter is stopped . prior to inflation , the flow switch can detect leaks of the outer balloon or guide wire lumen when the cather is in the air . in case of pressurization of the safety vacuum line ⅓ psi above atmospheirc , a pressure relief valve 58 located distal to the flow switch will vent excess pressure . referring now to fig7 , one embodiment of the present invention is shown . the schematic in fig7 illustrates the mechanical connection of the console 20 , umbilical system 12 and catheter 22 . the representation in fig7 corresponds to the embodiment shown in fig2 a . the internal components of console 20 are similar and correspond to those shown in greater detail in fig3 explained above . in this embodiment , the balloon 23 is inflated by receiving gas or fluid from source 60 via coaxial umbilical 14 . pid controller 66 controls the flow of pressurized fluid / gas from console 20 through umbilical system 12 to balloon 23 . fig8 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention in which an intermediary station 74 containing all components and circuts to operate the balloon catheter is coupled to console 10 , between the console and balloon catheter 23 . station 74 includes a series of shut - off valves and detection switches . detection circuitry within station 74 can detect if the volume of gas within balloon catheter 23 has exceeded a certain predetermined amount ( i . e . 20 cc within the catheter and the umbilical system ), and shut - off valves within station 74 are activated , preventing any further inflation . station 74 advantageously provides a quicker and more effective way of detecting leakage of gas or liquid into the blood stream . if the pressure within balloon catheter 23 drops , this could be an indication that fluid within the balloon has escaped . by inserting station 74 within system 10 , a quicker and more efficient way of detecting leaks and preventing unwanted balloon inflation is provided . fig9 shows yet another embodiment of the invention . here , balloon inflation can be performed by a syringe 76 coupled to a saline water source 78 or any other fluid media including gasses or liquids . this embodiment becomes practical when manual balloon inflation is required . in fig1 , intermediary station 74 includes a second inflation source 80 . as in the embodiment depicted in fig8 , leak detection circuitry and shut - off valves located in station 74 provide an efficient way of detecting leaks and quickly prohibiting the further inflation of balloon catheter 23 . should further inflation be required , a separate pressurized n 2 o source 80 is provided in station 74 , which is at a closer and more convenient location , i . e . nearer the catheter and not in a remote location such as console 20 . in fig1 , the refilling source 80 is located in the intermediate box 74 and inflation occurs through the outer vacuum umbilical . in fig1 , the refilling source is the coolant tank 60 located in the cryoablation console and inflation occurs through the inner vacuum umbilical . it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above . in addition , unless mention was made above to the contrary , it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale . a variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention , which is limited only by the following claims .
a system and method for controlling the inflation , ablation , and deflation of a balloon catheter . the system includes a balloon catheter , a console , having a pressurized gas or liquid inflation source , and an umbilical system to deliver pressurized coolant to the balloon catheter . the system comprises a pid controller or other pressure - sensing device that monitors the amount of pressure and volume within the balloon catheter . during inflation , the pressure and / or volume of fluid within the balloon is maintained at a target amount in order to provide sufficient mechanized pressure against the desired target region . the system limits the inflation pressure such that a safe quantity of gas would be released should a leak occur . if the amount falls below a certain threshold level , gas or fluid egress is presumed and the inflation process is halted . in one embodiment , an intermediate console is placed between the console and the balloon catheter and coupled thereto . if a leak is detected , a shut off valve in the intermediate station is activated and the flow of pressurized coolant is interrupted . the balloon catheter can be re - inflated by a separate coolant source in the intermediate station or by a syringe . a further embodiment provides a second balloon to envelope the first balloon and in order to provide a safety vacuum between the two balloons .