Ablation catheter with electrode temperature monitoring
First Claim
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1. A catheter comprising:
- an elongated catheter body having a proximal and distal end;
a plurality of electrodes mounted on said distal end of said catheter body; and
a thermal monitoring circuit, said thermal monitoring a circuit comprising a plurality of thermocouples conductively connected in series, said thermocouples located at said distal end of said elongated catheter body, said thermocouples being each thermoconductively coupled to a separate electrode.
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Abstract
An ablation catheter is provided which comprises an elongated catheter body, a plurality of electrodes, and a thermal monitoring circuit. The thermal monitoring circuit is comprised of a plurality of thermocouples joined in series. The thermocouples thermoconductively coupled to the electrodes. The thermal monitoring circuit will require only two wires to travel through the elongated catheter body in order to monitor a plurality of electrodes.
79 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A catheter comprising:
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an elongated catheter body having a proximal and distal end;
a plurality of electrodes mounted on said distal end of said catheter body; and
a thermal monitoring circuit, said thermal monitoring a circuit comprising a plurality of thermocouples conductively connected in series, said thermocouples located at said distal end of said elongated catheter body, said thermocouples being each thermoconductively coupled to a separate electrode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An ablation catheter comprising:
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an elongated body having a proximal and distal end;
a plurality of electrodes mounted on the distal end of the catheter body, each electrode having a separate electrode circuit wire attached thereto providing a means for selectively delivering RF energy to each individual electrode; and
a thermal monitoring circuit, the thermal monitoring circuit comprising a plurality of thermocouples conductively connected in series and located at said distal end of said elongated catheter body, said thermal monitoring circuit having a single pair of lead wires extending from said thermal monitoring circuit to said proximal end of said elongated catheter body, said thermocouples being each thermoconductively coupled to a separate electrode. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An ablation catheter monitoring system comprising:
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an ablation catheter comprising an elongated catheter body having proximal and distal ends, a plurality of electrodes mounted on the distal end of said catheter body, each electrode having separate electrode circuit wires attached thereto providing a means for selectively delivering RF energy to each individual electrode, and a heat monitoring circuit, said heat monitoring circuit comprising a plurality of thermocouples conductively connected in series and located at said distal end of said elongated catheter body, a single pair of lead wires extending from said heat monitoring circuit to said proximal end of the elongated catheter body, said thermocouples being each thermoconductively coupled to a separate electrode;
processing means for reading a voltage across said single pair of lead wires extending from said heat monitoring circuit and calculating a temperature reading therefrom; and
display means for displaying said calculated temperature reading, said display means connected in a circuit to the processing means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for determining the temperature of an activated electrode in an ablation catheter having a plurality of electrodes attached thereto, the method comprising:
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thermoconductively coupling each electrode to a separate thermocouple connected together in series as a heat monitoring circuit;
electrically activating one of said electrodes;
measuring a voltage across said heat monitoring circuit, and calculating the temperature of said electrode from said voltage across said heat monitoring circuit. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification