Force-sensing ablation catheter
AssigneeSt. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc.
InventorsJohn W. Sliwa, Stephen A. Morse, Zhenyi Ma
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A force-sensing tip assembly for a catheter comprises a tip shell, an acoustic transducer, a first target, and a first spring. The tip shell is for joining to the catheter. The acoustic transducer is disposed within the tip shell and is capable of generating an acoustic ping. The first target is spaced from the acoustic transducer within the tip shell. The first spring is in the tip shell and configured to allow a relative position between the acoustic transducer and the first target to change over a range. The first target is shaped and positioned to reflect at least a portion of the acoustic ping back to the acoustic transducer as a first echo over at least a portion of the range.
Claims24
A force-sensing tip assembly for a catheter, the force-sensing tip assembly comprising:
- a tip shell for joining to the catheter;
- an acoustic transducer disposed within the tip shell, the acoustic transducer capable of generating an acoustic ping;
- a first target spaced from the acoustic transducer within the tip shell;
- and
- a first spring in the tip shell, the first spring configured to allow a relative position between the acoustic transducer and the first target to change over a range;
- wherein the first target is shaped and positioned to reflect at least a portion of the acoustic ping back to the acoustic transducer as a first echo over at least a portion of the range.
A medical device system comprising:
- a catheter shaft having a proximal region and a distal region;
- a force-sensing tip assembly disposed at the distal region of the catheter shaft, the force-sensing tip assembly comprising:
- a tip shell joined to the catheter shaft;
- an acoustic transducer disposed within the tip shell, the acoustic transducer capable of generating and receiving an acoustic ping;
- a first target spaced from the acoustic transducer within the tip shell to reflect the acoustic ping as a first reflected acoustic echo back to the acoustic transducer;
- and
- a first spring joined to the tip shell and configured to allow a relative position between the acoustic transducer and the first target to change by deflection of the spring;
- and
- a control system connected to the force-sensing tip via the catheter shaft, the control system configured to analyze changes in the first reflected acoustic echo to determine a force generated by the first spring.
An ablation catheter comprising:
- a catheter shaft;
- a flexible tip coupled to the catheter shaft;
- a transducer disposed within the flexible tip to remain stationary with the shaft;
- a target disposed within the flexible tip to move relative to the shaft when the flexible tip bends;
- a fluid path between the transducer and the target to allow passage of a transducer ping and its respective reflected echo;
- and
- wherein the target is configured to provide the transducer with an echo that corresponds to a position of the flexible tip relative to the shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.