Multi-electrode ablation catheter
First Claim
1. An ablation catheter comprising:
- an elongated catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen therethrough;
a catheter tip section at the distal end of the catheter body having a lumen extending through at least a portion of the catheter tip in communication with the lumen of the catheter body;
an electrode mounted on the catheter tip section; and
a conductive lead extending from the electrode and through the lumens of the catheter body and catheter tip section, said lead comprising a first wire of a first high conductivity material and a second wire of a second high strength material different from the first material non-conductively bonded to the first wire, wherein each of the first and second wires are electrically bonded to an internal surface of the electrode.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-electrode ablation catheter comprises a plurality of thick-walled gold alloy electrodes mounted on the tip section of an elongated electrophysiology catheter. Each electrode is electrically connected to a switching unit by leads comprising paired copper and constantan wires. The switching unit is electrically connected to an RF generator, a temperature monitor and an ECG monitor. The switching unit enables an operator to switch between a first mode for monitoring ECG and a second mode for delivering RF energy for tissue ablation to a selected electrode and monitoring the temperature of that electrode. The copper wire of the lead delivers RF energy and the copper wire and constantan wire combine to form a thermocouple for temperature monitoring.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An ablation catheter comprising:
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an elongated catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen therethrough; a catheter tip section at the distal end of the catheter body having a lumen extending through at least a portion of the catheter tip in communication with the lumen of the catheter body; an electrode mounted on the catheter tip section; and a conductive lead extending from the electrode and through the lumens of the catheter body and catheter tip section, said lead comprising a first wire of a first high conductivity material and a second wire of a second high strength material different from the first material non-conductively bonded to the first wire, wherein each of the first and second wires are electrically bonded to an internal surface of the electrode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A deflectable ablation catheter comprising:
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an elongated catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen therethrough; a catheter tip section at the distal end of the catheter body having an outer wall and first and second off-axis lumens extending through at least a portion of the catheter tip and being separated from each other by a wall, both first and second lumens being in communication with the lumen of the catheter body; an electrode mounted on the catheter tip section; a conductive lead extending from the electrode and through the lumen of the catheter body and the first lumen of the catheter tip section, said lead comprising a first wire of a first, high conductivity material and a second wire of a second, high strength material different from the first material from the first material non-conductively bonded to the first wire, wherein each of the first and second wires are electrically bonded to an inside surface of the electrode; a puller wire extending through the lumen of the catheter body and the second lumen of the catheter tip section, said puller wire being fixedly attached at its distal end to the catheter tip section adjacent the distal end of the catheter tip section; and means for moving the puller wire longitudinally relative to the catheter body to thereby cause deflection of the tip section. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for creating linear lesions in the endocardium by ablation comprising:
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an ablation catheter comprising; an elongated catheter body having proximal and distal ends and a lumen therethrough; a catheter tip section at the distal end of the catheter body having a lumen extending through at least a portion of the catheter tip in communication with the lumen of the catheter body; a plurality of electrodes mounted on the catheter tip section; and an electrode lead extending from each electrode through the lumens of the catheter tip section to the proximal end of the catheter body, each of said leads comprising a first wire of a first material and a second wire of a second material different from the first material, said second wire being non-conductively bonded to the first wire, each wire being electrically connected to the electrode; an ECG monitor; a source of RF energy comprising at least one RF energy lead; a temperature monitor; and a switching unit electrically connected to each of the wires of the electrode leads, to at least one RF energy lead, to the temperature monitor and to the ECG monitor, said switching unit comprising means for switching between a first mode wherein an electrical connection is established between the ECG monitor and the electrode leads and a second mode wherein an electrical connection is established between one RF energy lead and a selected electrode lead and simultaneously an electrical connection is made between the temperature monitoring means and the selected electrode lead. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification