Probe assembly for mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue and method of using same
First Claim
1. A probe assembly for mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue, comprising an expandable and collapsible basket assembly including multiple splines, one or more of said splines carrying one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue, said basket assembly defining an interior;
- and an expandable and collapsible body disposed in the interior of said basket assembly and defining an interior adapted to receive a fluid medium for expanding said expandable and collapsible body.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a probe assembly for mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue and method of using the same. The probe assembly includes an expandable and collapsible basket assembly having multiple splines. One or more of the splines carry one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in the pulmonary vein tissue. The basket assembly defines an interior, and a microporous expandable and collapsible body is disposed in the interior of the basket assembly and defines an interior adapted to receive a medium containing ions. An internal electrode is disposed within the interior of the body and is adapted to transmit electrical energy to the medium containing ions. The body includes at least one microporous region having a plurality of micropores therein sized to passions contained in the medium without substantial medium perfusion therethrough, enabling ionic transport of electrical energy from the internal electrode, through ion-containing medium to an exterior of the body to ablate pulmonary vein tissue. In other aspects of the invention, the microporous body may be replaced by a non-porous expandable and collapsible body that receives a fluid medium for expanding the nonporous body to exclude blood from the electrodes on the splines, or the probe assembly may not include any expandable and collapsible body in the basket assembly interior (one or more electrodes on splines sense electrical activity in the pulmonary vein tissue and ablate the pulmonary vein tissue).
210 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A probe assembly for mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue, comprising an expandable and collapsible basket assembly including multiple splines, one or more of said splines carrying one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue, said basket assembly defining an interior;
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an expandable and collapsible body disposed in the interior of said basket assembly and defining an interior adapted to receive a fluid medium for expanding said expandable and collapsible body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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10. The assembly 2, wherein said microporous body and basket assembly are separately steerable.
- 22. A probe assembly for mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue, comprising an expandable and collapsible basket assembly including multiple splines, one or more of said splines carrying one or more electrodes, at least one of said one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue and ablate said pulmonary vein tissue.
- 24. A probe assembly for mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue, comprising an expandable and collapsible basket assembly including multiple splines, one or more of said splines carrying one or more electrodes, at least one of said one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue, and said probe assembly further including an ablating element adapted to ablate said pulmonary vein tissue.
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30. A method of mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue, comprising:
providing an integrated probe assembly in a target region of a pulmonary vein, the integrated probe assembly including;
an expandable and collapsible basket assembly including multiple splines, one or more of said splines carrying one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue and transmit electrical energy to ablate the pulmonary vein tissue;
expanding said basket assembly of said probe assembly so that one or more of said electrodes contact said pulmonary vein tissue;
mapping electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue with said one or more electrodes; and
without removing the basket assembly and one or more electrodes, ablating one or more targeted regions of pulmonary vein tissue determined by said mapping step by transmitting electrical energy to the electrodes, ablating the pulmonary vein tissue. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue, comprising:
providing a probe assembly in a target region of a pulmonary vein, the probe assembly including;
an expandable and collapsible basket assembly including multiple splines, one or more of said splines carrying one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue, said basket assembly defining an interior; and
a microporous expandable and collapsible body defining an interior adapted to receive a medium containing ions, an internal electrode disposed within said interior of said body and adapted to transmit electrical energy to said medium containing ions, said body including at least one microporous region having a plurality of micropores therein sized to pass ions contained in the medium without substantial medium perfusion therethrough, to thereby enable ionic transport of electrical energy from the internal electrode, through the ion-containing medium to an exterior of the body to ablate pulmonary vein tissue expanding said basket assembly of said probe assembly so that one or more of said mapping electrodes contact said pulmonary vein tissue;
mapping electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue with said one or more electrodes; and
without removing the basket assembly and one or more electrodes, ablating one or more targeted regions of pulmonary vein tissue determined by said mapping step by ionic transport of electrical energy from the internal electrode, through the ionic-containing medium, and into the pulmonary vein tissue. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method of mapping and ablating pulmonary vein tissue, comprising:
providing an integrated probe assembly in a target region of a pulmonary vein, the integrated probe assembly including;
an expandable and collapsible basket assembly including multiple splines, one or more of said splines carrying one or more electrodes adapted to sense electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue;
expanding said basket assembly of said probe assembly so that one or more of said electrodes contact said pulmonary vein tissue;
mapping electrical activity in said pulmonary vein tissue with said one or more electrodes; and
without removing the basket assembly and one or more electrodes, ablating one or more targeted regions of pulmonary vein tissue determined by said mapping step with an ablating element. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
Specification