Patent ID: 6165174
Filing Date: 2000-12-26
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
An instrument for supplying RF energy to body tissue, said instrument comprising a probe having:a handle;a closed electrode at one end of the probe, the instrument being adapted to allow the electrode to be accurately positioned on and moved along an atrium wall during open heart surgery and to make at least one stripe-shaped transmural conduction blocking lesion in said atrium wall;a connection and conduction means electrically communicating with the electrode and adapted for connecting the electrode to an RF power source;a shaft connecting the handle and the electrode, the shaft being more rigid than a catheter which is adapted for following a blood vessel;a temperature recorder at the end of the probe with the electrode, the temperature recorder being adapted to operatively communicate with a feedback system and the RF power source such that the temperature of the electrode can be regulated to a preset value; andmeans for supplying a physiologically acceptable liquid to the electrode, the means for supplying the liquid being connected to the shaft,wherein the probe is sufficiently rigid such that an operator grasping the handle of said instrument can accurately position and move the electrode along an atrium wall to be treated such that the instrument can be used in an open-heart operation to make at least one stripe-shaped transmural conduction blocking lesion in said atrium wall.