Robotic surgical system and method for automated creation of ablation lesions

A method of ablating tissue, comprising the steps of:

• robotically moving a catheter to a treatment area near a tissue surface, said catheter having an ablation electrode located near a distal end of the catheter;
• monitoring proximity or degree of contact between the catheter and the tissue surface;
• advancing the catheter until the catheter contacts the tissue surface;
• activating the ablation electrode to ablate the tissue;
• robotically moving the catheter, while the ablation electrode is active, along a predetermined path in a way that maintains contact between the catheter and the tissue surface;
• and
• ablating the tissue along the predetermined path.

A method of ablating tissue, comprising the steps of:

• robotically moving a catheter to a treatment area near a tissue surface, said catheter having an ablation electrode and a contact sensor located near a distal end of the catheter;
• while monitoring the contact sensor for contact between the catheter and the tissue surface, advancing the catheter until the catheter contacts the tissue surface;
• activating the ablation electrode to ablate the tissue;
• robotically moving the catheter along a predetermined path while maintaining contact between the catheter and the tissue surface;
• and
• ablating the tissue along the predetermined path.

A method of ablating tissue, comprising the steps of:

• analyzing areas of ablated tissue to identify at least a first ablated area and a second ablated area separated by a gap, the gap being characterized by tissue that has not been ablated;
• robotically moving a catheter to a point on a surface of the first ablated area, such that the catheter is in contact with the first ablated area;
• activating an ablation electrode on the catheter to ablate the tissue;
• and
• robotically moving the catheter to a point in the second ablated area and ablating a path along the gap between the first ablated area and the second ablated area.

A method of ablating tissue, comprising the steps of:

• using a probe to measure electrophysiology information for a plurality of measurement points on a surface of a heart, the probe including a measurement device for measuring electrophysiology information;
• analyzing the measured electrophysiology information to identify areas with previously ablated tissue;
• generating a three-dimensional surface model of a portion of the heart;
• presenting a graphical representation of the three-dimensional surface model of the heart;
• superimposing on the graphical representation information to identify the areas with previously ablated tissue;
• receiving input from a user that identifies at least two target locations that define a predetermined path on the graphical representation of the three-dimensional model of the heart, whereby tissue along the path will be ablated, said predetermined path including tissue that has not been previously ablated;
• robotically moving an ablation electrode to one of the at least two target locations along the predetermined path;
• activating an ablation electrode to ablate the tissue;
• and
• robotically moving the ablation electrode along the predetermined path defined by the at least two target locations to ablate tissue along the predetermined path.