Patent ID: 7622172

Claim:
A flexible cardiac catheter for sensing electrical activity within and administering therapy to a patient's heart, said catheter comprising: a cardiac catheter tube with at least one groove of given width extending longitudinally along the tube and circumscribing the tube; at least one electrode inset within and circumscribing the groove of the tube, said electrode comprising a single, integral, unitary, cylindrically shaped, electrically conductive band, the band comprising a plurality of separate, unitary, individual, flexible elements which encircle the groove and a plurality of separate, unitary, individual, conductive elements which encircle the groove, each individual flexible element being immediately adjacent to and in contact with an individual conductive element, such that the elements are stacked and aligned transversely along the width of the groove in an alternating pattern, said electrode further comprising means to physically unite all the separate elements to form the conductive band; and conductor means sealed internally within the catheter tube and extending through to the groove for carrying an electrical signal from the conductive band from within the groove to a proximate end of the catheter.