Patent ID: 8894589

Claim:
Apparatus for ablating tissue in a vessel or organ, the apparatus comprising: an elongate body having proximal and distal ends and a distal extremity, the distal extremity comprising a deformable material and an ablator configured to ablate tissue upon contact of the ablator and introduction of radiofrequency energy to the ablator, the distal extremity further comprising an irrigation channel having a wall disposed with the distal extremity, the wall comprising a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion lower than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the deformable material; optical fibers comprising optical contact force sensors affixed to the distal extremity, the optical contact force sensors configured to provide an output corresponding to the value of a contact force between the distal extremity and tissue of the organ or vessel; and a deflection mechanism disposed in the elongate body, the deflection mechanism configured to deflect the elongate body at a location proximal of the distal extremity.