Estimation of contact force of catheter expandable assembly

A system, comprising:

• a medical probe, comprising:
• a shaft for insertion into a cavity of an organ of a patient,
• an expandable assembly fitted at a distal end of the shaft, the expandable assembly being deformable with elastic properties, the expandable assembly including a plurality of electrodes,
• a first position sensing element, and
• a second position sensing element;
• and
• a processor, which is configured to:
• sense relative location of each of the first position sensing element and the second position sensing element,
• determine deflection of the expandable assembly based on the sensed relative location,
• determine contact force applied on the expandable assembly based on:
• the elastic properties of the expandable assembly, and
• the determined deflection of the expandable assembly, and
• provide an indication of the contact force on a display.

A method, comprising:

• receiving a first signal from a first position sensing element, the first position sensing element being mounted at a first position on a medical probe, the medical probe including a shaft and an expandable assembly fitted at a distal end of the shaft, the expandable assembly being deformable with elastic properties, the expandable assembly including a plurality of electrodes;
• receiving a second signal from a second position sensing element, the second position sensing element being mounted at a second position on a medical probe;
• sensing relative location of each of the first position sensing element and the second position sensing element based on the first signal and the second signal;
• determining deflection of the expandable assembly based on the relative location;
• relating the deflection to a contact force applied on the expandable assembly based on the elastic properties of the expandable assembly;
• and
• providing an indication of the contact force on a display.