Patent ID: 8114069

Claim:
An ablating device for ablating epicardial cardiac tissue, the ablating device comprising a body configured for deployment into a pericardial space to effect ablation of epicardial tissue of a heart; and at least two flexibly interconnected cells, the at least two flexibly interconnected cells defining an axis along a direction of their interconnection, wherein at least one cell of the at least two flexibly interconnected cells further comprises: a housing having at least one open side; an ablating element disposed within the housing and oriented such that an energy-emitting face of the ablating element faces the at least one open side of the housing; and an inflatable membrane extending over at least part of the energy-emitting face of the ablating element, the inflatable membrane being spaced apart from the ablating element to form a fluid cavity having diverse configurations, wherein at least one of the diverse configurations has one region of the inflatable membrane spaced from the ablating element a different amount than a second region of the inflatable membrane, thereby locally tilting the axis defined by the at least two flexibly interconnected cells.