Ablation catheter, system, and method of use thereof

摘要

A cardiac ablation apparatus for producing a circumferential ablation that electrically isolates a heart chamber wall portion from vessel such as a pulmonary vein extending into a wall portion comprises (a) an elongate centering catheter having a distal end portion; (b) an expandable centering element connected to the centering catheter distal end portion and configured for positioning within the vessel when in a retracted configuration, and for securing the elongate centering catheter in a substantially axially aligned position with respect to the vessel when the centering element is in an expanded configuration; (c) an ablation catheter slidably connected to the centering catheter the ablation element having a distal end portion, and (d) an expandable ablation element connected to the ablation catheter distal end portion.