Stent-type defibrillation electrode structures

An apparatus for applying electrical therapy to a patient's heart for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, including tachycardias and fibrillations, comprising:

• pulse generator means, adapted to be subcutaneously inserted in the patient's body, for generating pulses;
• and
• at least two electrode structures connected to the pulse generator means by respective electrical conductors, the electrode structures adopted to be implanted within the patient's body for discharging electrical energy through the patient's heart in response to pulses generated by the pulse generator means;
• wherein at least one of the electrode structures comprises an expandable electrically conducting intravascular stent, the stent being adopted to be in contact with an inner wall of said passage and providing substantially unimpeded blood flow through the passage and wherein the stent comprises an array of substantially linear wire filaments and end members connecting opposite ends of the wire filaments, the wire filaments being shaped into a basket-like configuration.

An electrode structure for use in a patient-implanted apparatus for applying electrical therapy to a patient's heart, the electrode structure comprising:

• an electrically conducting expandable intravascular stent having a circumferential array of wire filaments;
• and
• end members respectively connecting opposite ends of the wire filaments, the filaments having a basket-like shape;
• wherein the end members comprise ring electrodes and the filaments have weld connections with said ring electrodes.

A device for use in applying electrical therapy to a patient's heart, the device comprising:

• an intravascular stent having a circumferential array of electrically conductive filaments and end members interconnecting the filaments at opposite proximal and distal ends thereof, the filaments being shaped into a radially compressible basket-like configuration;
• an electrical conductor having a proximal end and a distal end, and a means for electrically coupling the distal end of the electrical conductor with the proximal ends of the filaments;
• and
• a catheter positioned in surrounding relation to the filaments to radially compress the filaments and maintain the filaments radially compressed to facilitate use of the catheter in delivering the stent to a predetermined intravascular location, the catheter further being removable proximally from the stent to allow the filaments to resiliently self-expand toward the basket-like configuration and into intimate contact with a vascular wall at the predetermined location.

An electrode structure positionable at an intravascular location near the heart for applying electrical therapy to the heart;

• the electrode structure including:
• an array of electrically conductive filaments and end members interconnecting the filaments at opposite proximal and distal ends thereof, the filaments being shaped into a basket-like configuration in which a separation distance between adjacent ones of the filaments, over most of the filament lengths between said opposite ends, is sufficient to decrease the current density between surfaces of the adjacent filaments and is at most approximately 3 cm;
• and
• an electrically conductive pulse delivery path, coupled to the proximal ends of the filaments, for delivering electrical pulses to all of the filaments simultaneously;
• wherein the filaments are radially compressible from the basket-like configuration to facilitate intravascular delivery of the array to a predetermined intravascular location, and after said delivery are expandable toward the basket-like configuration into intimate contact with a vascular wall at the predetermined intravascular location.