Patent ID: 8136241

Claim:
A method for attaching a ring electrode to a catheter comprising: providing a catheter tip section comprising a tubular shaft having at least one lumen extending therethrough and at least one exit hole extending from the outer surface of the shaft of the catheter tip section to the at least one lumen; passing a portion of an electrode lead wire through the at least one lumen and out of the exit hole; wrapping the portion of the electrode lead wire that extends out of the exit hole around the circumference of the shaft of the catheter tip section at least one full turn; sliding a ring electrode over the shaft of the catheter tip section and positioning the ring electrode directly over the circumferentially wrapped electrode lead wire, wherein the ring electrode is pre-fabricated to have a first portion that is generally non-flared and a second portion that is generally flared, and wherein positioning the ring electrode over the wrapped electrode lead wire comprises pushing the second portion of the ring electrode over the wrapped electrode lead wire until the wrapped electrode lead wire encounters the first portion of the ring electrode, thereby positioning the wrapped electrode lead wire under the ring electrode at a position generally between the first and second portions of the ring electrode; swaging the ring electrode to reduce its outer diameter sufficiently to secure the ring electrode to the shaft of the catheter tip, wherein the outer diameter of the swaged ring electrode is about the same as the outer diameter of the shaft of the catheter tip.