Devices and methods are provided for ablating areas of the
gastrointestinal tract affected with certain benign, pre-cancerous, or early cancerous lesions that originate within the
epithelium and are limited to the mucosal layer of the
gastrointestinal tract wall. Examples of such lesions include benign conditions such as cervical inlet patch (ectopic
gastric mucosa in the upper
esophagus), as well as pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions such as
intestinal metaplasia / intra-epithelial neoplasia /
early cancer of the
stomach, squamous intra-epithelial neoplasia and
early cancer of the
esophagus, oral and pharyngeal
leukoplakia, flat colonic polyps, anal intra-epithelial neoplasia (AIN), and early cancers of the
anal canal.
Ablation, as provided the invention, commences at the epithelial layer of the
gastrointestinal wall and penetrates deeper into the
gastrointestinal wall in a controlled manner to achieve a successful patient outcome, the latter of which is defined generally as eradication of the targeted
lesion, and / or a change in the targeted
lesion to prevent or forestall patient morbidity. Embodiments of the device include an ablational
electrode array that spans 360 degrees and an array that spans an arc of less than 360 degrees.