Cardiac mapping catheter

A catheter comprising:

• an elongate catheter body having a distal end and a proximal end;
• a proximal handle segment having an articulation control and a deployment control, said proximal handle connected to said proximal end;
• an intermediate segment connected to said handle segment;
• a deflectable segment connected to said intermediate segment, said deflectable segment adapted to articulate in a plane through an angle in response to said articulation control;
• a distal array segment connected to said deflectable segment, said distal array segment including a deployable electrode array that can move from a first retracted position to a second deployed position;
• said deployable electrode array formed from a flexible printed circuit slit to form splines and rolled about the major axis, the splines of the flexible printed circuit including first regions having a first stiffness and second regions that include one or more stiffener layers and have a second stiffness that is greater than the first stiffness, the stiffness of the first and second regions at least partially determining the shape of the electrode array in the deployed position, said distal array segment has a non-uniform distribution of electrodes in the array with the electrodes being distributed more densely in regions of the deployed array that are more likely to be positioned closely to the endocardium.

A catheter comprising:

• an elongate catheter body having a distal end and a proximal end;
• a proximal handle segment having deployment control, said proximal handle segment connected to said proximal end;
• a distal array segment including an electrode array having a non-uniform distribution of electrodes with the electrodes being distributed more densely in regions of the deployed array that are more likely to be positioned close to the endocardium, said distal array segment connected to said distal end;
• said electrode array formed from a flexible printed circuit and comprising:
• an insulating layer comprising a first side and a second side;
• a first metallization layer coated with iridium oxide on the first side of the insulating layer, the first metallization layer configured to increase the surface area of the first metallization layer;
• a second metallization layer on the second side of the insulating layer;
• and
• an electrical connection between the first metallization layer and the second metallization layer;
• and
• a radio-opaque pattern applied to the distal array segment such that the pattern changes during deployment to provide a discernable radiographic image to confirm deployment.

A catheter comprising:

• an elongate catheter body having a distal end and a proximal end;
• a proximal handle segment having an articulation control and a deployment control, said proximal handle connected to said proximal end;
• an intermediate segment connected to said handle segment;
• a deflectable segment connected to said intermediate segment, said deflectable segment adapted to articulate in a plane through an angle in response to said articulation control;
• a distal array segment connected to said deflectable segment, said distal array segment including a deployable electrode array that can move from a first retracted position to a second deployed position, wherein said deployable electrode array is formed from a flexible printed circuit comprising:
• an insulating layer;
• a first metal layer supported by a first surface of the insulating layer and a second metal layer supported by a second surface of the insulating layer, the first and second metal layers comprising an electrode material selected from the group consisting of:
• gold, stainless steel, platinum, platinum-iridium, titanium nitride, platinum black and iridium-oxide;
• an overcoat layer supported by the second metal layer configured to insulate the second metal layer;
• a first stiffener layer supported by the overcoat layer;
• and
• a second stiffener layer that is separate from the first stiffener layer and disposed on portions of the first stiffener layer to form the second regions that have the second stiffness that is greater than the first stiffness.