Radio-Frequency Ablation and Direct Current Electroporation Catheters

A basket catheter comprising:

• an elongate catheter shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end;
• a flexible basket comprising a plurality of splines having a plurality of electrodes coupled to the distal end of the catheter shaft and configured to conform to tissue, the plurality of electrodes further comprising:
• a plurality of mapping electrodes disposed on the plurality of splines, wherein the plurality of electrodes are configured and arranged to detect electrophysiological characteristics of tissue in contact with the basket;
• at least one ablation electrode configured and arranged to selectively ablate the tissue, wherein the at least one ablation electrode is relatively larger than each of the plurality of mapping electrodes disposed on the plurality of splines;
• and
• controller circuitry communicatively coupled to the plurality of electrodes and configured to receive signals from the plurality of mapping electrodes indicative of the electrophysiological characteristics of the tissue in contact with the flexible basket and generate an electrophysiological map of the tissue and configured to operate one or more pairs of the plurality of electrodes in one or more of a bipolar configuration and a monopolar configuration to affect an ablation therapy of the tissue based at least in part on the electrophysiological map of the tissue, wherein affecting ablation therapy comprises applying a voltage differential between 400 and 4,000 volts to produce irreversible electroporation.

An electroporation ablation system for treating target tissue in a patient, the electroporation ablation system comprising:

• a catheter comprising an electrode assembly, the electrode assembly comprising:
• one or more ablation electrodes configured to generate electrical fields proximate to a target tissue and selectively ablate the target tissue, the one or more ablation electrodes configured to operate in one or more of a bipolar configuration and a monopolar configuration, wherein selectively ablating the target tissue comprises applying a voltage differential between 400 and 4,000 volts to produce irreversible electroporation;
• and
• one or more mapping electrodes configured to measure electrical signals, wherein the one or more ablation electrodes are relatively larger than each of the one or more mapping electrodes.