Patent ID: 7156816
Filing Date: 2007-01-02
Classification: A61B,A61N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for electrically isolating a cardiac chamber, comprising: a guidewire, the guidewire being insertable into a vessel; an intravascular catheter having a distal end and a distal tip, said catheter also having a lumen therethrough, said catheter being slidably insertable over said guidewire through said lumen; an anchor at said distal tip of said catheter, said anchor being a distal-most component of said catheter and deployable within said vessel and surrounding said guidewire for fixing said catheter near target tissue of an ostium of said vessel; and an ultrasound transducer assembly on said catheter and located proximal to said anchor, said ultrasound assembly having a lumen therein for slidably inserting said catheter over said guidewire, said ultrasound assembly comprising a body section having a space therein, said body section shaped as a truncated cone, wherein said body section comprises an air-backing material, said body section also comprising an outer surface at an inclination angle, and said ultrasound assembly also having at least one piezoelectric element made of a ceramic material located within the space of the body section, whereupon in an operational position, said catheter is fixed near said target tissue of said ostium of said vessel by said anchor being deployed within said vessel along said guidewire as said distal-most component of said catheter, and said ultrasound transducer assembly is disposed external to said vessel and said ostium of said vessel and proximal to said anchor, said transducer assembly being spaced a distance away from said target tissue of said ostium of said vessel and said anchor for emitting ultrasound energy that is directed to a circumferential ablation region on said target tissue of said ostium of said vessel, said ultrasound energy emitted along a path substantially avoiding said anchor.