Dry Catheter RF Tester

A method of testing an electrical signal path functionality of a sensing catheter, comprising:

• providing a test system comprising:
• a near field RF signal generator;
• a sensing catheter to be tested, the sensing catheter having distal and proximal ends;
• an enclosure configured to receive a distal end of the sensing catheter;
• an antenna disposed in the enclosure, and configured to receive a near field RF signal, and transmit the near field RF signal within the enclosure;
• an imaging system electrically coupled to the proximal end of the sensing catheter and configured to generate an image specific to the near field RF signal transmitted through the sensing catheter;
• and
• a computer system electrically coupled to the imaging system and the signal generator and configured to analyze the image generated by the imaging system;
• generating, by the signal generator, a near field RF signal corresponding to a first input pattern;
• transmitting the first input pattern through the sensing catheter via the antenna;
• generating, by the imaging system, an image for the first input pattern transmitted through the sensing catheter;
• analyzing, by the computer system, the image based on the first input pattern;
• and
• determining whether the sensing catheter retains a desired electrical signal path functionality.

A method of determining whether a sensing catheter retains a desirable electrical signal path functionality, comprising:

• generating near field RF signals corresponding to a variety of random input test patterns near a sensing component of a sensing catheter;
• receiving output signals from the catheter based on the RF signals;
• generating images corresponding to the respective input test patterns from the transmitted output signals;
• and
• analyzing the images in view of the input test patterns for determining whether the sensing catheter retains the desirable electrical signal path functionality.