The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 11, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 09, 2001
Katie Messing, San Jose, CA (US);
Jon Wohlgemuth, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Robert Bencini, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
SciMed Life Systems, Inc., Maple Grove, MN (US);
Abstract
Distal catheter assemblies, catheters, and methods for minimizing damage to heat and/or magnetically sensitive components are provided. A distal catheter assembly comprises a composite housing having a cavity formed therein and first and second complementary lateral housing sections. A first component, e.g., a sensor, is mounted within the first housing section. Optionally, a second component, e.g., a steering assembly or RF wire, can also be mounted to the first housing section. The open housing section allows the first and second components to be mounted in any order. Thus, if the first component is mounted last, any adverse effects on the first component that may otherwise result from mounting the components in the reverse order may be minimized. After the first and second components are mounted, the first and second housing sections are affixed to each other in a suitable manner, e.g., by using a pin and hole arrangement. In the preferred embodiment, the composite housing includes a cap-shaped head and a cylindrical neck section, with the head forming an ablation electrode. In this case, the head can further include a channel for mounting a thermistor therein. Either or both the head and neck can be formed from the first and second housing sections. The distal catheter assembly can be mounted to the distal end of a catheter tube to form a fully functioning catheter.