CATHETER HAVING CIRCULAR ABLATION ASSEMBLY
First Claim
1. A catheter comprising:
- an elongated flexible tubular catheter body having an axis and proximal and distal ends;
an ablation assembly at the distal end of the tubular body having a preformed generally circular curve that is generally transverse to the axis of the catheter body, the ablation assembly comprising a flexible tubing and carrying a tip electrode at its distal end, the tip electrode having an asymmetric design, wherein a portion of the tip electrode adapted to contact tissue extends radially beyond an outer wall of the flexible tubing and another portion of the tip electrode is generally even with the outer wall of the flexible tubing; and
an electrode lead wire extending through the catheter body and into the ablation assembly and having a distal end connected to the tip electrode.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A catheter particularly useful for ablation lesions within a tubular region of or near the heart is provided. The catheter comprises an elongated flexible tubular catheter body having an axis and proximal and distal ends. An ablation assembly is mounted at the distal end of the tubular body. The ablation assembly has a preformed generally circular curve having an outer surface and being generally transverse to the axis of the catheter body. The ablation assembly comprises a flexible tubing having proximal and distal ends that carries a tip electrode at its distal end. An electrode lead wire extends through the catheter body and into the ablation assembly and has a distal end connected to the tip electrode. In use the distal end of the catheter is interested into the heart of a patient. At least a portion of the outer circumference of the generally circular curve is contacted with the inner circumference of the tubular region so that the tip electrode is in a first position in contact with tissue along the inner circumference. The tip electrode is used to ablate tissue at the first position. The ablation assembly can then be rotated so that the tip electrode is in a second position in contact with tissue along the inner circumference different from the first position, and the tip electrode is used to ablate tissue at the second position. This procedure can be repeated to form a lesion of the desired length along the inner circumference.
83 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A catheter comprising:
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an elongated flexible tubular catheter body having an axis and proximal and distal ends; an ablation assembly at the distal end of the tubular body having a preformed generally circular curve that is generally transverse to the axis of the catheter body, the ablation assembly comprising a flexible tubing and carrying a tip electrode at its distal end, the tip electrode having an asymmetric design, wherein a portion of the tip electrode adapted to contact tissue extends radially beyond an outer wall of the flexible tubing and another portion of the tip electrode is generally even with the outer wall of the flexible tubing; and an electrode lead wire extending through the catheter body and into the ablation assembly and having a distal end connected to the tip electrode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification