Patent ID: 8709008
Filing Date: 2014-04-29
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A tissue ablation apparatus adapted for deployment within a blood-filled environment, comprising: a barrier or membrane projecting from a deployment catheter and defining a field when the barrier or membrane is expanded in the blood-filled environment from an insertion configuration to an expanded and deployed configuration, wherein the barrier or membrane further comprises a distal membrane which at least partially covers the field and further defines a central aperture in the distal membrane having a diameter which is less than an outer diameter of the barrier or membrane and through which fluid is permeable to an environment external to the barrier or membrane; an imaging element positioned within or adjacent to the barrier or membrane and adapted to image a tissue surface adjacent to the barrier or membrane when the field is purged of blood via a purging fluid introduced through the deployment catheter, where the barrier or membrane is configured to maintain its deployed configuration prior to introduction of the purging fluid into the field; and an electrode within the field or adjacent to the barrier or membrane and electrically coupled to the purging fluid and spaced from the aperture such that, in use, electrical energy from the electrode is conducted by the purging fluid into the tissue surface adjacent the aperture, and where the imaging element is positioned to provide for visualization of the tissue surface through the purging fluid while the electrode conducts the electrical energy.