Patent ID: 8398623
Filing Date: 2013-03-19
Classification: A61B,A61N

Abstract:
1. Apparatus for tissue treatment comprising: (a) a catheter having proximal and distal ends; (b) an expandable ablation device, said ablation device having a collapsed condition and an expanded condition, said ablation device being operative to ablate tissue in proximity to the ablation device when the ablation device is in said expanded condition, said catheter and said ablation device in said expanded condition defining a distally facing port and a continuous passageway extending between said port and the proximal end of the catheter, said catheter being steerable so that the orientation of said expandable ablation device relative to the anatomy can be selectively varied; and (c) an elongated sensor probe having proximal and distal ends, a main portion, an open hoop region, and a limb portion coupling the main portion to the hoop region, wherein the limb portion extends radially away from the main portion and extends proximally from a distal end of the main portion, said sensor probe including one or more electrodes disposed adjacent the distal end of the sensor probe, said passageway and said ablation device being constructed and arranged so that said sensor probe can be removably positioned in said passageway with the distal end of said sensor probe projecting out of said ablation device through said port, wherein the distal end of the sensor probe has an unconstrained curvature relative to the hoop region, and the hoop region has an unconstrained curvature in a plane orthogonal to the curvature of the distal end, resulting in an unconstrained configuration in which the hoop region is curved in the distal direction, towards the distal end of the main portion, and the distal end of the sensor probe is angled such that it lies closer to the distal end of the main portion than a juncture between the hoop region and the limb portion.