Catheter with mapping and ablating tip assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023172661-A1
Application number	US-202318160973-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 27, 2023
Priority date	May 2, 2016
Publication date	Jun 8, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

Ablation systems of the present disclosure facilitate the safe formation of wide and deep lesions. For example, ablation systems of the present disclosure can allow for the flow of irrigation fluid and blood through an expandable ablation electrode, resulting in efficient and effective cooling of the ablation electrode as the ablation electrode delivers energy at a treatment site of the patient. Additionally, or alternatively, ablation systems of the present disclosure can include a deformable ablation electrode and a plurality of sensors that, in cooperation, sense the deformation of the ablation electrode, to provide a robust indication of the extent and direction of contact between the ablation electrode and tissue at a treatment site.

First claim

I/We claim:

1 . A catheter, comprising:
a shaft having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion; and a tip assembly coupled to the distal end portion of the shaft, the tip assembly including (a) a plurality of splines and (b) one or more sensors carried by the plurality of splines, wherein:
each spline of the plurality of splines is configured to conduct and deliver ablative electrical energy along a majority of its length to target tissue of a patient,
a sensor of the one or more sensors is electrically isolated, via an electrically insulating material, from a respective spline of the plurality of splines carrying the sensor,
the electrically insulating material is positioned between the sensor and the respective spline, and
the sensor of the one or more sensors is configured to detect electrical activity corresponding to tissue in an area of an anatomic structure local to the sensor, the detected electrical activity useable for mapping the anatomic structure.

2 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein:
the tip assembly is transitionable between a compressed state and an expanded state; and
a distance between a distalmost portion of the tip assembly and the distal end portion of the shaft decreases as the tip assembly expands from the compressed state to the expanded state.

3 . The catheter of claim 2 wherein, in the expanded state, the tip assembly is generally ellipsoidal.

4 . The catheter of claim 2 wherein, in the expanded state, a cross-sectional diameter of the tip assembly is larger than a cross-sectional diameter of the distal end portion of the shaft.

5 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein:
the tip assembly is transitionable between an expanded state and a compressed state; and
a distance between a distalmost portion of the tip assembly and the distal end portion of the shaft increases as the tip assembly collapses from the expanded state to the compressed state.

6 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein the splines of the plurality of splines are electrically coupled to one another to form a single electrical conductor.

7 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein a first subset of the plurality of splines is electrically isolated from a second subset of the plurality of splines such that the tip assembly includes two electrodes of a bipolar electrode configuration.

8 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein:
the one or more sensors include a first sensor and a second sensor; and
the first sensor is disposed along the tip assembly at a location distal to the second sensor.

9 . The catheter of claim 1 , further comprising a substantially rigid structure coupled to the distal end portion of the catheter shaft at only a proximal end of the structure, wherein the structure protrudes from the distal end portion of the catheter shaft into and terminates within a volume defined by inner surfaces of the plurality of splines such that the structure is enclosed by the plurality of splines of the tip assembly.

10 . The catheter of claim 9 wherein:
the one or more sensors includes a plurality of sensors; and
sensors of the plurality of sensors are disposed along the tip assembly such that, as the tip assembly contacts tissue while the tip assembly is in an axial orientation in which a longitudinal axis of the catheter shaft is generally perpendicular to the tissue, a sensor of the plurality of sensors makes initial contact with the tissue before the structure.

11 . The catheter of claim 9 wherein:
the one or more sensors include a plurality of sensors; and
sensors of the plurality of sensors are disposed along the tip assembly such that as the tip assembly contacts tissue while the tip assembly is in a lateral orientation in which a longitudinal axis of the catheter shaft is generally parallel to the tissue, a sensor of the plurality of sensors makes initial contact with the tissue before the structure.

12 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein, while the tip assembly is contacting the target tissue and is in an axial orientation in which a longitudinal axis of the catheter shaft is generally perpendicular to the target tissue, at least one spline of the plurality of splines is in contact with the target tissue and is configured to conduct and deliver the ablative electrical energy to the target tissue.

13 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein, while the tip assembly is contacting the target tissue and is in a lateral orientation in which a longitudinal axis of the catheter shaft is generally parallel to the target tissue, at least one spline of the plurality of splines is in contact with the target tissue and is configured to conduct and delivery the ablative electrical energy to the target tissue.

14 . The catheter of claim 1 wherein the tip assembly is coupled to the distal end portion of the catheter shaft via a coupling portion, and wherein the coupling portion includes a ring.

15 . A catheter, comprising:
a shaft having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion; an ablation electrode coupled to the distal end portion of the shaft, the ablation electrode including a plurality of struts configured to conduct and deliver ablative electrical energy along a majority of their lengths to tissue of a patient; and a plurality of surface electrodes disposed along an outer surface of the ablation electrode, each surface electrode of the plurality of surface electrodes electrically isolated from the ablation electrode via an electrically insulating material positioned between the sensor and the ablation electrode, wherein each surface electrode of the plurality of surface electrodes is useable to map an anatomic structure based at least in part on electrical activity (a) corresponding to tissue of the anatomic structure and (b) detected by the surface electrode in an area local to the surface electrode.

16 . A method, comprising:
positioning a tip assembly of a catheter within an anatomic structure of a patient, the tip assembly coupled to a distal end portion of a shaft and including (a) a plurality of splines and (b) one or more sensors carried by the plurality of splines,
wherein each spline of the plurality of splines is configured to conduct and deliver ablative electrical energy along a majority of its length to target tissue of the anatomic structure, and
wherein at least one sensor of the one or more sensors is electrically isolated, via an electrically insulating material, from a respective spline of the plurality of splines carrying the at least one sensor, the electrically insulating material positioned between the at least one sensor and the respective spline;
mapping select tissue of the anatomic structure, wherein mapping the select tissue includes detecting electrical activity corresponding to the select tissue using the one or more sensors; and ablating select target tissue of the anatomic structure, wherein ablating the select target tissue includes delivering ablative electrical energy to the select target tissue via at least one spline of the plurality of splines.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein mapping the select tissue includes:
mapping the select tissue prior to ablating the select target tissue; and
identifying, based at least in part on the detected electrical signals, the select tissue as the select target tissue.

18 . The method of claim 16 wherein mapping the select tissue includes mapping the select tissue after ablating the select target tissue.

19 . The method of claim 16 wherein the ablative electrical energy includes radiofrequency (RF) energy, and

Assignees

• Affera Inc

Inventors

• Harlev Doron
• Collier Ian
• Wallace Andrew Miles
• Bond Jonathan Matthew

Classifications

• A61B2018/00726

  Duty cycle · CPC title

• A61B2090/061

  for measuring dimensions, e.g. length · CPC title

• A61B2017/00154

  pulsed · CPC title

• A61B2090/3966

  Radiopaque markers visible in an X-ray image · CPC title

• A61B2018/00744

  Fluid flow · CPC title