Patent ID: 6960206

Claim:
A cardiac catheter system, comprising: an elongate, flexible sheath having an internal lumen, a distal end and a longitudinal axis; and an ablating element disposed within the sheath and selectively deployable therefrom so as to project from the sheath to a pulmonary vein of a subject with a substantially coil-like shape having at least one revolution, wherein the ablating element, in a deployed condition, is oriented in a plane that is substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the sheath; the ablating element having a tissue contacting portion that is continuously conductive, the continuously conductive region being positioned on the ablating element such that when so deployed it ablates a circumferential blocking lesion in the region of said pulmonary vein; and a guide wire disposed within and selectively deployable from the sheath, wherein a leading end of the ablating element is secured to the guide wire.