Patent ID: 7194294

Claim:
A method of precisely positioning a medical catheter with respect to a tissue, the method comprising: providing a medical catheter system comprising: a flexible elongate body having a proximal end and a distal end; a plurality of spaced apart electrodes operably attached to the flexible body near the distal end, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrodes is adapted only for mapping a tissue such that said at least one electrode adapted only for mapping a tissue has an exposed outer surface area smaller than a similarly configured ablation electrode; a plurality of tissue orientation detectors disposed on the flexible body between at least some of the electrodes; and a controller electrically coupled to the plurality of electrodes and the plurality of tissue orientation detectors; inserting the flexible elongate body into a patient; mapping an electrical profile of the tissue using at least some of the plurality of electrodes; positioning the elongate body to be proximate a tissue using the plurality of tissue orientation detectors and based in part on the electrical profile of the tissue; and activating at least one of the electrodes to ablate a desired region of the tissue if the controller determines that at least one of the tissue orientation detectors is in contact with the desired region.