Tissue ablation device and method of use

Abstract

A tissue ablation device creates long linear lesions along a body space wall of an animal, and primarily between adjacent pulmonary vein ostia in a left atrial wall. An ablation element includes first and second ends that are bordered by first and second anchors. The anchors are adapted to secure the ablation element ends at predetermined first and second locations along the body space wall such that the ablation element is adapted to ablate an elongate region of tissue between those locations. The anchors may be guidewire tracking members, each including a bore adapted to receive and track over a guidewire, and may anchor within adjacent pulmonary vein ostia when the engaged guidewires are positioned within the respective veins. Stop members may be provided on the guidewires and may be adapted for positioning the relative anchors or for forcing the anchors to fit snugly within the vein ostia. A conduit passageway through the catheter houses a stiffening stylet which may be advanced into the region of the ablation element in order to impart a shape to that element to conform it to a predetermined region of anatomy, or to stiffen the underlying catheter in order to advance the assembly into remote anatomy.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 10 / 233,264, filed on Aug. 30, 2002, incorporated herein by reference, which is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 09 / 357,184 filed on Jul. 19, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,697, incorporated herein by reference, which is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 08 / 853,861 filed on May 9, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,983, incorporated herein by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not Applicable INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC [0003] Not Applicable BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] 1. Field of the Invention [0005] The present invention is a surgical device. More particularly, it is a medical catheter assembly that has an ablation element which is adapted to have its two ends anchored at predetermined locations on a body space wall such that the ablation element is adap...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0186] It is to be understood from the disclosure above that that particular variations of a broader invention have been described. Additional modifications or variations other than those particularly described may be made based on this disclosure according to one of ordinary skill without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Problems solved by technology

The resulting loss of blood flow due to incomplete cardiac contractions along with a rapid heart rate can lead to shortness of breath, dizziness, limited physical endurance, and chest pains.

Persistence of atrial fibrillation renders an individual susceptible to congestive heart failure, stroke, other thromboembolic events, and myocardial ischemia.

Numerous cardiac arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, were once thought untreatable except by pharmacological or surgical intervention, both capable of manifesting undesirable side effects.

However, the administration of such medications sometimes does not restore normal cardiac hemodynamics, and may ultimately exacerbate the arrhythmic condition through the occurrence of proarrhythmia.

However, such focal lesions are not appropriate for most cases of atrial fibrillation which involve multiple reentrant loops.

However, this process may fail to produce continuous, transmural lesions, thus leaving the opportunity for the reentrant circuits to reappear.

In addition, minimal means are available in these embodiments for steering the catheters to anatomic sites of interest such as the pulmonary veins.

In addition, none of the cited references discloses a catheter device that provides a multirail guidewire tracking capability at various positions along the catheter length.

Still further, none of the cited references discloses a tissue ablation device assembly having an elongate ablation element with at least one suctioning port along its length which is coupled to a suction source in order to anchor the ablation element to tissue along a body space wall.

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