Miniature Flexible Planar Microwave and RF Energy Delivery Structure for New Endoscopic Procedures-Design and Initial Pre-Clinical Data

This paper describes the design, development and initial pre-clinical work carried out for a new electrosurgical device designed to enable advanced non-invasive clinical techniques to be performed on a routine basis. The work focuses on the development of the multi-modality device that includes a miniature energy delivery structure 2mm wide by 8.66mm long and a 3.2mm diameter by 2.35m long flexible torque stable catheter that includes a low loss microwave cable. The miniature energy delivery structure is capable of delivering microwave energy at 5.8GHz, RF energy at 400KHz and has an integrated injection needle to inject viscous fluid or saline. The device can be rotated when inserted into the instrument channel of an endoscope even with the distal end in retroflex. Initial results obtained from a pre-clinical investigation to evaluate the usefulness of the device to perform an advanced clinical technique, known as Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD), are also presented.