Electrode configurations for diagnosis of arrhythmias

A method of manufacturing an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

• (a) a shaft;
• and
• (b) an end effector at a distal end of the shaft, the end effector being sized to fit in an anatomical passageway within a subject's cardiovascular system, the end effector having at least one electrode pair, the at least one electrode pair being configured to contact cardiovascular tissue and thereby pick up electrocardiogram signals, each electrode pair including first and second electrodes spaced apart from each other along a longitudinal axis by a gap area (Ag) located between the electrodes, the gap area (Ag) having a gap distance (Lg) with respect to the longitudinal axis;
• the method comprising:
• determining the gap distance (Lg) such that:
• (i) a length of one of the electrodes (L) along the longitudinal axis is equal to or greater than the gap distance (Lg);
• and
• (ii) a ratio of an area defined by the gap area (Ag) to one electrode area (Ae) is equal to or less than one;
• and
• constructing the apparatus in accordance with the determined gap distance (Lg).

A method of manufacturing an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

• (a) a shaft;
• and
• (b) an end effector at a distal end of the shaft, the end effector being sized to fit in an anatomical passageway within a human cardiovascular system, the end effector including at least one electrode pair, the at least one electrode pair being configured to contact cardiovascular tissue and thereby pick up electrocardiogram signals, each electrode pair including:
• (i) a first electrode having a first surface area of no greater than approximately 1 squared millimeters, and
• (ii) a second electrode having a second surface area,
• the first and second electrodes being spaced apart from each other by a gap distance defined by two nearest substantially parallel surfaces of the respective first and second electrodes;
• the method comprising:
• determining the gap distance (Lg) such that the gap distance (Lg) has any value from a product of one of the first surface or second surface area and a conversion factor no greater than about 1.25 mm−1;
• and
• constructing the apparatus in accordance with the determined gap distance (Lg).

A method of manufacturing an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

• (a) a shaft;
• and
• (b) an end effector at a distal end of the shaft, the end effector being sized to fit in an anatomical passageway within a subject's cardiovascular system, the end effector having at least one electrode pair, the at least one electrode pair being configured to contact cardiovascular tissue and thereby pick up electrocardiogram signals, each electrode pair including:
• (i) a first electrode having a first surface area in a square dimensional unit, and
• (ii) a second electrode having the first surface area, the first and second electrodes being spaced apart from each other by a gap distance;
• the method comprising:
• determining the gap distance such that the gap distance is defined by a multiplication of the first surface area to a conversion factor that ranges from approximately 0.1 to approximately 2 in the inverse of the square root of the same dimensional unit as the first surface area;
• and
• constructing the apparatus in accordance with the determined gap distance.