| CPC A61B 5/068 (2013.01) [A61B 5/6852 (2013.01)] | 8 Claims |

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1. A method for checking a position and an orientation of a catheter tip of a catheter in a patient's body, the method comprising:
inserting the catheter tip into an access site in the patient's body; and
moving the catheter tip within a vein towards a heart of the patient while:
a) detecting a first electrical potential with a first electrode arranged on the catheter tip and generating a first signal that represents a time curve of the first electrical potential;
b) detecting a second electrical potential with a second electrode arranged on the catheter tip and spaced apart proximally from the first electrode and generating a second signal that represents a time curve of the second electrical potential;
c) generating a differential signal as a function of the first signal and the second signal, the differential signal representing a time curve of an electrical voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode;
d) checking the position and the orientation of the catheter tip by comparing the differential signal and a reference signal that represents a desired position and orientation of the catheter tip; wherein checking the orientation of the catheter tip comprises detecting and evaluating a change in sign of the differential signal, the change in sign representing a change in a polarity of the first electrode and the second electrode.
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