Patent ID: 8152795

Claim:
A cardiac ablation instrument for preventative treatment to inhibit exigent physiological aberrations at a treatment site, comprising: a catheter body configured for disposition within a heart; a non-contact energy emitter being slidably disposed within a lumen of the catheter, the non-contact energy emitter configured to forwardly project ablative energy to a target tissue at the treatment site, wherein the non-contact energy emitter is configured and disposed within the catheter such that sliding the energy emitter along the lumen of the catheter permits control over an amount or a shape of ablative energy being projected towards the target tissue; a reflectance fiber supported by the catheter body, the reflectance fiber being part of a reflective monitor; a controller in communication with the reflectance fiber and configured to use reflective feedback from the reflectance fiber in order to monitor the state of ablation at the treatment site; a display providing a visual display of the state of the target tissue, wherein the controller is further configured to provide visual feedback signals to the display that are indicative of at least an onset of tissue carbonization and provide visual feedback to a user.