| Electrophysiology loop catheter -> Monitor Keywords |
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Electrophysiology loop catheterRelated Patent Categories: Surgery, Diagnostic Testing, Structure Of Body-contacting Electrode Or Electrode Inserted In Body, Electrode Placed In Body, Electrode Placed In Or On HeartElectrophysiology loop catheter description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060241366, Electrophysiology loop catheter. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to electrophysiology catheters, and more particularly to electrophysiology catheters for performing endocardial mapping and/or ablation procedures. [0003] 2. Discussion of the Related Art [0004] The human heart is a very complex organ, which relies on both muscle contraction and electrical impulses to function properly. The electrical impulses travel through the heart walls, first through the atria and then the ventricles, causing the corresponding muscle tissue in the atria and ventricles to contract. Thus, the atria contract first, followed by the ventricles. This order is essential for proper functioning of the heart. [0005] In some individuals, the electrical impulses of the heart develop an irregular propagation, disrupting the heart's normal pumping action. The abnormal heartbeat rhythm is termed a "cardiac arrhythmia." Arrhythmias may occur when a site other than the sinoatrial node of the heart is initiating rhythms (i.e., a focal arrhythmia), or when electrical signals of the heart circulate repetitively in a closed circuit (i.e., a reentrant arrhythmia). [0006] Techniques have been developed which are used to locate cardiac regions responsible for the cardiac arrhythmia, and also to disable the short-circuit function of these areas. According to these techniques, electrical energy is applied to a portion of the heart tissue to ablate that tissue and produce scars which interrupt the reentrant conduction pathways or terminate the focal initiation. The regions to be ablated are usually first determined by endocardial mapping techniques. Mapping typically involves percutaneously introducing a catheter having one or more electrodes into the patient, passing the catheter through a blood vessel and into an endocardial site, and deliberately inducing an arrhythmia so that a continuous, simultaneous recording can be made with a multichannel recorder at each of several different endocardial positions. When an arrythormogenic focus or inappropriate circuit is located, as indicated in the electrocardiogram recording, it is marked by various imaging or localization means so that cardiac arrhythmias emanating from that region can be blocked by ablating tissue. An ablation catheter with one or more electrodes can then transmit electrical energy to the tissue adjacent the electrode to create a lesion in the tissue. One or more suitably positioned lesions will typically create a region of necrotic tissue which serves to disable the propagation of the errant impulse caused by the arrythromogenic focus. Ablation is carried out by applying energy to the catheter electrodes. The ablation energy can be, for example, RF, DC, ultrasound, microwave, or laser radiation. [0007] Atrial fibrillation together with atrial flutter are the most common sustained arrhythmias found in clinical practice. [0008] Current understanding is that atrial fibrillation is frequently initiated by a focal trigger from the orifice of or within one of the pulmonary veins. Though mapping and ablation of these triggers appears to be curative in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, there are a number of limitations to ablating focal triggers via mapping and ablating the earliest site of activation with a "point" radiofrequency lesion. One way to circumvent these limitations is to determine precisely the point of earliest activation. Once the point of earliest activation is identified, a lesion can be generated to electrically isolate the trigger with a lesion; firing from within those veins would then be eliminated or unable to reach the body of the atrium, and thus could not trigger atrial fibrillation. [0009] Another method to treat focal arrhythmias is to create a continuous, annular lesion around the ostia (i.e., the openings) of either the veins or the arteries leading to or from the atria thus "corralling" the signals emanating from any points distal to the annular lesion. Conventional techniques include applying multiple point sources around the ostia in an effort to create such a continuous lesion. Such a technique is relatively involved, and requires significant skill and attention from the clinician performing the procedures. [0010] Another source of arrhythmias may be from reentrant circuits in the myocardium itself. Such circuits may not necessarily be associated with vessel ostia, but may be interrupted by means of ablating tissue either within the circuit or circumscribing the region of the circuit. It should be noted that a complete `fence` around a circuit or tissue region is not always required in order to block the propagation of the arrhythmia; in many cases simply increasing the propagation path length for a signal may be sufficient. Conventional means for establishing such lesion `fences` include a multiplicity of point-by-point lesions, dragging a single electrode across tissue while delivering energy, or creating an enormous lesion intended to inactivate a substantive volume of myocardial tissue. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] One embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft, and the tip assembly including a wire formed of a superelastic material and shaped to bias the tip assembly in a first orientation, and a cable, attached to the actuator and the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the cable being adapted to change an orientation of the tip assembly from the first orientation in response to movement of the actuator. [0012] Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, and a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft and the tip assembly including an adhesive cured in a configuration to bias the tip assembly in a first orientation. [0013] A further embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft and the tip assembly including an adhesive cured in a configuration to support the tip assembly in a first orientation including an arcuately curved shape at the distal end of the tip assembly having a first radius of curvature, a first cable, attached to the actuator and the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the first cable being adapted to change an orientation of the tip assembly from the first orientation to a second orientation including an arcuately curved shape at the distal end of the tip assembly having a second radius of curvature larger than the first radius of curvature in response to movement of the actuator, and a second cable, attached to the actuator and the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the second cable being adapted to change the orientation of the tip assembly from the second orientation to the first orientation in response to movement of the actuator. [0014] Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft and the tip assembly including an adhesive cured in a configuration to support the tip assembly in a first orientation including a bend at the proximal end of the tip assembly having a first angle of approximately ninety degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, a first cable, attached to the actuator and the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the first cable being adapted to change an orientation of the tip assembly from the first orientation to a second orientation including a bend at the proximal end of the tip assembly having a second angle relative to the longitudinal axis that is smaller than the first angle in response to movement of the actuator, and a second cable, attached to the actuator and the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the second cable being adapted to change the orientation of the tip assembly from the second orientation to the first orientation in response to movement of the actuator. [0015] A further embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of shaping a tip assembly of a catheter. The method comprises acts of injecting an adhesive into a lumen of the catheter that extends along the tip assembly of the catheter, and curing the adhesive by maintaining a portion of the tip assembly of the catheter in a fixed position for a time sufficient to allow the adhesive to bias the tip assembly in a particular orientation. [0016] Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of using a catheter having a handle, a flexible shaft having a longitudinal axis, and a tip assembly, the shaft being connected between the handle and the tip assembly, a distal end of the tip assembly including an arcuate curve having a diameter. The method comprises acts of placing the tip assembly inside a heart of a patient, injecting a fluid from the tip assembly into the heart of the patient, and remotely, from outside the patient, adjusting the diameter of the arcuate curve. [0017] A further embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft and the distal end of the tip assembly being biased in an arcuately curved shape having a radius of curvature, a cable, attached to the actuator and the distal end of the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the cable being adapted to change the radius of curvature of the distal end of the tip assembly in response to movement of the actuator, and means for conducting a fluid along a length of the shaft and releasing the fluid from the tip assembly. [0018] Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft and the distal end of the tip assembly being biased in an arcuately curved shape having a radius of curvature, a cable, attached to the actuator and the distal end of the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the cable being adapted to change the radius of curvature of the distal end of the tip assembly in response to movement of the actuator, at least one lumen coupled to the shaft to conduct a fluid along a length of the shaft, and at least one opening in the lumen to release the fluid, the opening being disposed at a portion of the lumen coupled to the shaft at the tip assembly. [0019] A further embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft and the distal end of the tip assembly being biased in an arcuately curved shape having a radius of curvature, and a cable, attached to the actuator and the distal end of the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the cable being adapted to change the radius of curvature of the distal end of the tip assembly in response to movement of the actuator, wherein the distal end of the tip assembly includes a plurality of position sensors disposed in the distal end of the tip assembly. [0020] Another embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including an actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft, the proximal end of the tip assembly including a fixed bend of approximately ninety degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, and the distal end of the tip assembly including an arcuate curve having a diameter, the arcuate curve being oriented in a plane that is approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, and a cable, attached to the actuator and the distal end of the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the cable being adapted to change the diameter of the arcuate curve in response to movement of the actuator, wherein the distal end of the tip assembly includes a plurality of position sensors disposed in the distal end of the tip assembly. [0021] A further embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of using a catheter having a handle, a flexible shaft having a longitudinal axis, and a tip assembly, the shaft being connected between the handle and the tip assembly, a distal end of the tip assembly including an arcuate curve having a diameter. The method comprises acts of placing the tip assembly inside a heart of a patient, sensing the location of at least one two points on the tip assembly, and remotely, from outside the patient, adjusting the diameter of the arcuate curve. Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method of using a catheter having a handle, a flexible shaft having a longitudinal axis, and a tip assembly, the shaft being connected between the handle and the tip assembly, a distal end of the tip assembly including an arcuate curve having a diameter. The method comprises acts of placing the tip assembly inside a heart of a patient, sensing the location of a movable electrode disposed on the tip assembly, and remotely, from outside the patient, adjusting the diameter of the arcuate curve. [0022] A further embodiment of the invention is directed to an electrophysiology catheter comprising a handle having a distal end and a proximal end, the handle including a first actuator, a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis that extends along a length of the shaft, the proximal end of the shaft being attached to the distal end of the handle, a tip assembly having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the tip assembly being attached to the distal end of the shaft and the distal end of the tip assembly being biased in an arcuately curved shape having a radius of curvature, wherein the distal end of the tip assembly includes a movable electrode assembly comprising an electrode, a position sensor, and means for moving the electrode and position sensor longitudinally along a portion of the length of the shaft, and a first cable, attached to the first actuator and the distal end of the tip assembly, that extends through the shaft, the cable being adapted to change the radius of curvature of the distal end of the tip assembly in response to movement of the actuator in a first direction. 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