Helically shaped electrophysiology catheter

Abstract

An electrophysiology (EP) device suitable for ablating tissue within a patient's body lumen. The EP device of the invention generally comprises an elongated shaft having a distal shaft section with a helical shape and at least one electrode on an exterior portion thereof. One aspect of the invention comprises a method of performing a medical procedure, such as treating a patient for atrial arrhythmia, by forming a lesion using an EP device embodying features of the invention.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention generally relates to the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia and particularly atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. [0002] Atrial fibrillation is the disorganized depolarization of a patient's atrium with little or no effective atrial contraction. Prior methods for treating a patient's arrhythmia include the use of anti-arrhythmic drugs such as sodium and calcium channel blockers or drugs which reduce the Beta-adrenergic activity. Other methods include surgically sectioning the origin of the signals causing the arrhythmia or the conducting pathway for such signals. However, the surgical technique is quite traumatic and is unacceptable to a large number of patients. A more frequently used technique to terminate the arrhythmia involves destroying the heart tissue which causes the arrhythmia by ablative energy, e.g., applying a laser beam or high frequency electrical energy such as RF or microwave energy, to a desired arrhythmogenic site ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] In one embodiment, the helical shape of the distal shaft section is configured to conform to the inner diameter of a patient's body lumen, to form one or more lesions which extend around a wall defining the body lumen. Thus, the turns of the helical distal shaft section have an outer diameter which is not significantly smaller or significantly larger than the inner diameter of the body lumen at the desired site of the lesion. In a presently preferred embodiment, the diameter of the turns is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the body lumen, so that the turns contact the wall defining the body lumen without significantly expanding and injuring the body lumen wall.

[0012] The EP device of the invention provides for improved lesion formation due to the ablation electrodes on the helically shaped distal section having at least one 360° turn. The helically shaped distal section allows for the formation of lesions extending in whole or in part around the inner surface of a patient's body lumen. The turns of the helically shaped distal shaft section can be moved closer together or further apart within the patient to provide the desired lesion pattern. Additionally, the device has a low profile configuration for advancement within the patient which self expands into the helically shaped configuration for easy of deployment within the patient. These and other advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying exemplary drawings.

Problems solved by technology

However, the surgical technique is quite traumatic and is unacceptable to a large number of patients.

A major problem of RF ablation techniques is forming a lesion of the requisite size, which completely ablates the area of interest but does not unnecessarily destroy surrounding healthy tissue.

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