US 12,376,901 B2
Radio-frequency ablation and direct current electroporation catheters
Derek C. Sutermeister, Ham Lake, MN (US); Troy T. Tegg, Elk River, MN (US); and Salo Arias, Brooklyn Park, MN (US)
Assigned to St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc., St. Paul, MN (US)
Filed by St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc., St. Paul, MN (US)
Filed on Oct. 15, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/502,902.
Application 17/502,902 is a continuation of application No. 16/418,296, filed on May 21, 2019, abandoned.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/674,314, filed on May 21, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0175445 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. A61B 18/14 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/287 (2021.01); A61B 18/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 18/1492 (2013.01) [A61B 5/287 (2021.01); A61B 5/6858 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00267 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00351 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00577 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00613 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00839 (2013.01); A61B 2018/1405 (2013.01); A61B 2018/1467 (2013.01); A61B 2562/0209 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A planar array catheter comprising:
an elongated catheter shaft including a proximal end and a distal end, and defining a longitudinal axis;
a flexible, planar array coupled to the distal end of the elongated catheter shaft, the planar array configured to conform to tissue, and including struts extending substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis, each of the struts lying in a common plane and comprising electrodes coupled thereto, wherein the electrodes are configured to detect electrophysiological characteristics of a contacted tissue in contact with the planar array and operate in a combination of a bipolar configuration and a monopolar configuration to conduct an ablation therapy of the contacted tissue; and
controller circuitry communicatively coupled to the electrodes and configured to receive signals from the electrodes indicative of the electrophysiological characteristics of the contacted tissue, generate an electrophysiology map of the contacted tissue, operate one or more pairs of the electrodes in the combination of the bipolar configuration and the monopolar configuration based at least in part on the electrophysiology map to ablate a volume of tissue in contact with one of the electrodes of the one or more pairs of the electrodes, and control a depth or width of the ablated volume of tissue using the combination of the bipolar configuration and the monopolar configuration, wherein operation of the planar array in each of the bipolar configuration and the monopolar configuration each comprises applying a voltage differential between 400 and 4,000 volts to produce irreversible electroporation.