CARDIAC ABLATION CATHETER WITH OXYGEN SATURATION SENSOR
First Claim
1. A method for use in positioning a catheter at a desired location in a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
- inserting said catheter into the patient'"'"'s body;
performing at least one blood gas measurement in relation to said catheter with said catheter inserted into said patient'"'"'s body; and
using said at least one blood gas measurement at least to assist in positioning said catheter at said desired location in the patient'"'"'s body.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Positioning of the distal end of a catheter at a desired location, for example, in the desired atrium of a patient'"'"'s heart, can be determined or verified through measurement of blood gas values proximate to the distal end. In one embodiment, an oximeter is used to monitor oxygen saturation, for example, to distinguish between de-oxygenated venous blood and well-oxygenated arterial blood. Optical signals may be transmitted to the distal end of the catheter and received therefrom via optical fibers. Specifically, a catheter (300) has a number of optical fiber ends (308, 310 and 312) disposed at a distal end (304) thereof. A first fiber end (310) transmits the red and infrared optical signals. Fiber ends (308 and 312) are used for detecting reflected optical signals. The optical signals are then processed by a detector and an oximeter instrument to provide oxygen saturation readings that can indicate the position of the distal end of the catheter within the patient'"'"'s heart or successful penetration of the interatrial septum.
40 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for use in positioning a catheter at a desired location in a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
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inserting said catheter into the patient'"'"'s body; performing at least one blood gas measurement in relation to said catheter with said catheter inserted into said patient'"'"'s body; and using said at least one blood gas measurement at least to assist in positioning said catheter at said desired location in the patient'"'"'s body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A catheter apparatus, comprising:
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a therapeutic catheter having a distal end for introduction into a patient to a desired location via a blood vessel of the patient; and blood gas measurement structure for measuring a blood gas related value proximate to said distal end of said catheter; and medical procedure structure, disposed proximate to said distal end of said catheter and separate from said blood gas measurement structure, for performing a therapeutic medical procedure on said patient. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for use in performing catheter-based medical procedures on patients, comprising the steps of:
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providing a catheter having blood gas measurement structure and medical procedure structure proximate to a distal end thereof; introducing said distal end of said catheter into a body of a patient; first operating said blood gas measurement structure to obtain at least one blood gas measurement; and based at least in part on said at least one blood gas measurement, second operating said medical procedure structure to perform a medical procedure on said patient. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification