Patent ID: 9579149
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61M,A61N

Claim:
1. A catheter apparatus, comprising: an elongated tubular shaft extending along a longitudinal axis, wherein the elongated shaft includes a proximal portion and a distal portion; and a treatment assembly at the distal portion of the shaft and configured to be located at a target location within a blood vessel of a human patient, wherein the treatment assembly includes a first pair of electrodes and a second pair of electrodes, wherein the first pair of electrodes comprises first and second electrodes and the second pair of electrodes comprises third and fourth electrodes, and wherein the treatment assembly further includes a basket assembly comprising (a) a first strut carrying the first and fourth electrodes, and (b) a second strut carrying the second and third electrodes, and further wherein: the first strut includes a first fixed end coupled to the shaft and a first free end slidably engaged with the shaft at a location distal of the first fixed end; and the second strut includes a second fixed end coupled to the shaft and a second free end slidably engaged with the shaft at a location proximal of the second fixed end, wherein the first fixed end and the second free end are generally adjacent along the shaft; wherein the first free end and the second fixed end are generally adjacent along the shaft, and wherein the treatment assembly is transformable between a low-profile delivery configuration wherein the first and second electrodes are in a staggered arrangement relative to each other along the longitudinal axis, and an expanded deployed configuration wherein the first and second electrodes are aligned along an electrode axis that is orthogonal relative to the longitudinal axis.