Ablation electrode
First Claim
1. An electrode catheter, comprising:
- an elongated catheter tube having proximal and distal ends and an insulated portion at the distal end thereof; and
a catheter tip portion comprising conductive electrode means carried at the distal end of the tube for ablation of targeted tissue in a patient, said conductive electrode means comprising a bottom face and a sidewall extending proximally from the bottom face, said insulated portion of said catheter tube being secured about a first portion of the sidewall such that said bottom face and a second portion of said sidewall of said electrode means are exposed at the distal end of said elongated catheter tube, said bottom face defining an end face having a first surface area intended for contact with the targeted tissue and said second portion of said sidewall defining a second surface area, the ratio of the first surface area to the second surface area being greater than 1;
wherein a ratio of a first impedance of a circuit comprising said conductive electrode means when said end face is in contact with the targeted tissue to a second impedance of said circuit when said end face is in contact with a nontreatment region is greater than approximately 1.5.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electrode catheter is provided for ablation of arrhythmogenic tissue in a malperforming heart and includes an elongated catheter tube having longitudinally spaced apart proximal and distal ends. At least one electrode for ablation of the arrhythmogenic tissue in a targeted region of the patient is carried on the catheter tube, preferable at or proximate the distal end of the catheter tube. One such electrode may be located at the distal tip of the catheter and configured in the shape of a generally flat disk that substantially conforms to the contour of the targeted region and such that the ratio of the surface area of the tissue-contacting end face to that of a side wall portion of the electrode is greater than 1.0. A conductor is arranged through the elongated catheter tribe and is coupled with the electrode at the distal end, while an energy source is electrically coupled to the conductor at the proximal end of the catheter tube for supplying energy to the electrode for ablation of the arrhythmogenic tissue. A temperature sensor is disposed in the electrode for dynamically sensing the temperature of the targeted region and for use in controlling the amount Of energy supplied to the electrode tip to maintain a predetermined temperature at the targeted region.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. An electrode catheter, comprising:
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an elongated catheter tube having proximal and distal ends and an insulated portion at the distal end thereof; and a catheter tip portion comprising conductive electrode means carried at the distal end of the tube for ablation of targeted tissue in a patient, said conductive electrode means comprising a bottom face and a sidewall extending proximally from the bottom face, said insulated portion of said catheter tube being secured about a first portion of the sidewall such that said bottom face and a second portion of said sidewall of said electrode means are exposed at the distal end of said elongated catheter tube, said bottom face defining an end face having a first surface area intended for contact with the targeted tissue and said second portion of said sidewall defining a second surface area, the ratio of the first surface area to the second surface area being greater than 1; wherein a ratio of a first impedance of a circuit comprising said conductive electrode means when said end face is in contact with the targeted tissue to a second impedance of said circuit when said end face is in contact with a nontreatment region is greater than approximately 1.5. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A catheter tip portion for dependency from a distal end of an electrode catheter, comprising:
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conductive electrode means for ablation of targeted tissue in a patient, said conductive electrode means comprising a bottom face and a sidewall extending proximally from the bottom face, said bottom face defining an end face having a first surface area intended for contact with the targeted tissue and said sidewall defining a second surface area, the ratio of the first surface area to the second surface area being greater than 1; wherein a ratio of a first impedance of a circuit comprising said conductive electrode means when said end face is in contact with the targeted tissue to a second impedance of said circuit when said end face is in contact with a nontreatment region is greater than 1.5. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. In a method for ablating targeted tissue in a patient, a method of confirming that an end face of a catheter is in contact with the targeted tissue, comprising the steps of:
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providing an electrode catheter comprising; an elongated catheter tube having proximal and distal ends and an insulated portion at the distal end thereof, and a catheter tip portion comprising conductive electrode means carried at the distal end of the tube for ablation of targeted tissue in a patient, the conductive electrode means comprising a bottom face and a sidewall extending proximally from the bottom face, the insulated portion of the catheter tube being secured about a first portion of the sidewall such that the bottom face and a second portion of the sidewall of the conductive electrode means are exposed at the distal end of the elongated catheter tube, the bottom face defining an end face for contact with the targeted tissue, and such that a ratio of a first impedance of a circuit comprising said conductive electrode means when the end face is in contact with the targeted tissue to a second impedance of said circuit when the end face is in contact with a nontreatment region is greater than 1.5; positioning the end face by moving the conductive electrode means from a first position wherein the end face is in contact with a nontreatment region to a second position; measuring the impedance of a circuit comprising the conductive electrode means at the first and second positions; and confirming that the end face is in contact with the targeted tissue in the second position when the impedance measured in said measuring step in the second position is at least approximately 50% greater than the impedance measured in the first position. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for ablating targeted tissue of initially unknown size and shape within a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining the shape of the targeted tissue; (b) selecting a conductive electrode to conform to said shape of the targeted tissue determined in said step (a), said conductive electrode being of fixed size and shape and carried on an elongated catheter tube; (c) positioning said elongated catheter tube so that said conductive electrode selected in said step (b) is positioned within the patient'"'"'s body in complementary contact with the targeted tissue; and (d) supplying energy to said selected conductive electrode to ablate the targeted tissue.
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23. An electrode catheter for ablating targeted tissue within a patient'"'"'s body, the targeted tissue having a predetermined shape, said electrode catheter comprising:
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an elongated catheter tube having proximal and distal ends and an insulated portion arranged proximate said distal end of the catheter tube; a plurality of electrically-conductive ablation electrodes arranged proximate said distal end of said elongated catheter tube for placement against target tissue to be ablated and variously shaped to conform to anticipated shapes of target tissue to be ablated through contact with the target tissue, said plurality of ablation electrodes being electrically and thermally insulated from one another by said insulated portion; and means for selecting one of said plurality of ablation electrodes that most closely conforms to the predetermined shape of the targeted tissue and for supplying energy to said selected one of said ablation electrodes for ablating the targeted tissue. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An electrode catheter for ablating targeted tissue within a patient'"'"'s body, said targeted tissue having a predetermined shape and size, said electrode catheter comprising:
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an elongated catheter tube comprising an insulated portion and having proximal and distal ends and a distal region proximate said distal end; a first electrically-conductive ablation electrode carried on a peripheral wall at said distal region and extending about a fractional portion of a periphery of said elongated catheter tube, said first electrically-conductive ablation electrode being configured so as to have a shape substantially conforming to the predetermined shape of the targeted tissue; an electrically-conductive ablation tip electrode carried at the distal end of said elongated catheter tube, wherein said ablation tip electrode is electrically and thermally insulated from said first ablation electrode by said insulated portion; and means for selecting the one of said first ablation electrode and said ablation tip electrode that most closely conforms to at least one of the predetermined shape and size of the targeted tissue and for supplying energy to said selected electrode for ablating the targeted tissue. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification