Patent ID: 11937945
Assignee: BIOSENSE WEBSTER (ISRAEL) LTD.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An electrophysiology catheter system comprising:
a catheter comprising:
an elongated catheter body; and
a distal tip electrode comprising:
an electrode shell with a shell wall configured with a recess; and
a capacitive force sensor including an inner conductive plate, an outer conductive plate, and a compressible dielectric therebetween, the inner conductive plate disposed in the recess, the outer conductive plate movable relative to the inner conductive plate between a neutral position and a tissue contact position, the outer conductive plate in front of the shell wall at a distance D from the inner conductive plate when the outer conductive plate is in the neutral position, the outer conductive at a distance D1 from the inner conductive plate when the outer conductive plate is in the tissue contact position, the distance D1 less than the distance D;

a processor having a memory device and a voltage source;
a first terminal connected to the outer conductive plate and the voltage source; and
a second terminal connected to the inner conductive plate and the voltage source;
wherein the memory device is configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:
activate the voltage source;
detect a change in capacitance across the capacitive force sensor when the outer conductive plate moves from the distance D to the distance D1; and
determine a force applied by distal tip electrode against tissue based on the change in capacitance.