Patent ID: 6923806

Claim:
A device for clamping and ablating cardiac tissue to form transmural lesions therein, comprising: first and second jaws relatively movable between an open position to receive cardiac tissue therebetween and a clamped position compressing the cardiac tissue; a first elongated electrically conductive member carried on the first jaw and a second elongated electrically conductive member carried on the second jaw; the jaws being generally parallel in a range of movement between the open and clamped positions; the first and second conductive members being connectable to an RF energy source to pass electrical current through tissue clamped between the jaws; at least one of the jaws being biased so as to urge the jaws toward the clamped position with a force that increases as the separation of the jaws increases; whereby cardiac tissue may be clamped with a force that is proportional to the thickness of the clamped tissue and that is generally uniformly applied by the parallel jaws.