Patent ID: 7338485

Claim:
A method for creating a lesion on a heart of a patient, said method comprising: a. accessing an atrial surface of the heart; b. positioning a lesion formation tool against said surface; c. forming a lesion with said tool by forming an elongated, narrow path of ablated tissue of the heart by moving said tool on said surface along said path and forming a lesion along said path wherein said lesion is formed by applying light energy to said heart to create said lesion; d. assessing a transmurality of said lesion by applying an electrical signal to said heart and assessing a conductivity of said signal across said lesion; wherein said assessing is performed by: placing at least two electrodes on the surface with a first electrode positioned on a first side of said lesion and with a second electrode placed on an opposite, second side of said lesion and moving the first and second electrodes by displacing the electrodes along a direction of the path while maintaining the first and second electrodes on the respective first and second sides; and wherein the applying of the electrical signal includes applying the signal to at least one of the first and second electrodes while moving the electrodes along the direction of the path.