Hot tip catheter

Abstract

A system and method for treating a stenosis or blockage in a bodily fluid passageway is described. The system includes a catheter and a controller for generating radio frequency energy along a pair of output lines, a monitoring circuit for monitoring the phase of the radio frequency energy along the output lines, and an impedance matching circuit for adjusting the output impedance of the generator so that it equals that of a load, e.g., the patient. The catheter includes a catheter body which is insertable into the bodily passageway and operatively connected to the controller. A lumen in the catheter body defines an opening and a stainless steel, metallic-plated mandril is disposed within the lumen so that a terminal end thereof extends through the opening and into the bodily passageway. An internal electrode is joined to the terminal end of the mandril, with the other end of the mandril operatively connected to one of the output lines for receiving the radio frequency energy produced by the generator and delivering such energy to the terminal end and the internal electrode. An external electrode in the form of a grounding pad is located externally of a patient so that when the radio frequency energy is delivered via the mandril to the internal electrode, the same causes or enables the capacitative heating of a stenosis. The method of the present invention relates to finding the most optimal position for placement of the catheter so that optimal power may be delivered to the stenosis.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.