Claims
- 1. An ablation device for electrically isolating the pulmonary veins, comprising:
a longitudinal working member having a longitudinal axis and adapted to unidirectionally direct ablative energy in a first predetermined direction, the first predetermined direction extending radially from the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal working member; and a pair of spaced electrodes for sensing electrical activity of biological tissues, the electrodes operably attached to the longitudinal working member and positioned in a second predetermined direction relative to the first predetermined direction, the second predetermined direction extending radially from the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal working member, wherein the electrodes provide a reference point for determining the radial position of the working member with respect to sensed biological tissue inside the body of the patient, the reference point allowing a user to properly align the working member with biological tissues targeted for ablation.
- 2. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the wire electrodes are arranged to extend side by side longitudinally relative to the longitudinal working member and have centerlines which extend radially from the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal working member, the centerlines having an angle between them that is less than approximately 45 degrees.
- 3. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the wire electrodes have a length and a width, the length being substantially larger than the width.
- 4. The device as recited in claim 4 wherein the length is between about 0.5 and about 1 mm.
- 5. The device as recited in claim 4 wherein the width is between about 0.25 mm and about 0.625 mm
- 6. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the wire electrodes has a longitudinal axis that is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal working member.
- 7. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the wire electrodes has a longitudinal axis that is angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal working member, and wherein the angle is less than about 45 degrees.
- 8. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the electrode wires are electrically coupled to an associated surface mount resistor, the surface mount resistors being arranged to reduce the coupling of electromagnetic energy along the electrode wire.
- 9. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the electrode wires are formed from a high resistance material, the high resistance material arranged to reduce the coupling of electromagnetic energy along the electrode wire
- 10. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein the wire electrodes are arranged to extend substantially parallel to one another.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 09/548,3314, filed Apr. 12, 2000, and entitled ELECTRODE ARRANGEMENT FOR USE IN A MEDICAL INSTRUMENT.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09548331 |
Apr 2000 |
US |
Child |
10752156 |
Jan 2004 |
US |