Catheter with improved irrigated tip electrode having two-piece construction, and method of manufacturing therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11819266-B2
Application number	US-202017090886-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 5, 2020
Priority date	Aug 2, 2013
Publication date	Nov 21, 2023
Grant date	Nov 21, 2023

Abstract

A catheter has a two-piece tip electrode with a shell and a support structure that are secured to each other by multiple redundant mechanisms in order to reduce the risk of tip detachment during a procedure. The tip electrode includes at least two different welds attaching the shell to the support structure to provide a dual failure mode. One weld includes a seam weld and another weld includes a penetration weld.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A catheter comprising:
a catheter body; and
a tip electrode distal of the catheter body, the tip electrode comprising:
a shell piece having a hollow cylindrical body with an open proximal end defined by a peripheral rim,
a support member piece having a generally cylindrical body, including a proximal portion and a distal portion, and an annular ridge projecting from an outer surface of the proximal portion and,
a joint seam that is formed by an abutment of the annular ridge and the peripheral rim and a weld, the weld comprising at least one seam weld and at least one penetration weld.

2. The catheter of claim 1 , in which the distal portion of the support member piece and a distal segment of the proximal portion of the support member piece are disposed inside the shell.

3. The catheter of claim 2 , in which the distal segment of the proximal portion of the support member piece contacts an inner surface of the shell piece.

4. The catheter of claim 3 , in which the distal segment of the proximal portion of the support member piece contacts an inner surface of the shell piece in an interference fit.

5. The catheter of claim 1 , in which an outer diameter of the annular ridge and an outer diameter of the peripheral rim are equal.

6. The catheter of claim 5 , in which the distal portion of the support member piece and the shell piece define a cavity.

7. The catheter of claim 6 , in which the support member piece includes a first fluid port and a fluid channel connected to an irrigation tubing disposed in the catheter body.

8. The catheter of claim 7 , in which the shell piece includes a second fluid port.

9. The catheter of claim 8 , in which the seam weld comprises a first seam-weld segment and a second seam-weld segment, and the penetration weld comprises a first penetration-weld segment and a second penetration weld-segment.

10. The catheter of claim 9 , in which the first seam-weld segment overlaps the first penetration-weld segment.

11. The catheter of claim 10 , in which the overlap comprises a circumferential overlap.

12. The catheter of claim 11 , in which the circumferential overlap ranges between 5 to 15 degrees in arc length.

13. The catheter of claim 12 , in which the circumferential overlap is 10 degrees in arc length.

14. The catheter of claim 13 , in which the overlap comprises an axial overlap.

15. The catheter of claim 14 , in which the axial overlap ranges between 50% and 80%.

16. The catheter of claim 15 , in which the axial overlap ranges between 60% and 70%.

Assignees

• Biosense Webster Israel Ltd

Inventors

• Clark Jeffrey L
• Gonzalez Daniel
• Thompson John
• Totten Ivan

Classifications

• A61B18/1492 Primary

  having a flexible, catheter-like structure, e.g. for heart ablation (A61B18/1477 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B2017/00526

  Methods of manufacturing · CPC title

• A61B2218/002

  Irrigation · CPC title