Patent ID: 8079982

Claim:
An injection catheter comprising: a catheter body comprising a flexible tubing having proximal and distal ends and at least one lumen therethrough; a tip section having a longitudinal axis and comprising a flexible tubing having proximal and distal ends, wherein the proximal end of the tip section is mounted at the distal end of the catheter body; a needle control handle at the proximal end of the catheter body; an injection needle extending through the tip section, catheter body, and needle control handle and having a proximal end attached to the needle control handle and a distal end within the tip section, wherein the injection needle is longitudinally slidable within the tip section so that upon suitable manipulation of the needle control handle the distal end of the injection needle can extend distally beyond the distal end of the tip section in a direction along the longitudinal axis of the tip section; an electrode lead wire having a first end electrically connected to the injection needle and a second end electrically connected to a suitable monitoring apparatus or to a source of ablation energy; and a penetration monitoring electrode fixedly mounted on the injection needle and electrically insulated from the injection needle.