摘要 |
2110396 9222240 PCTABS00018 A heated catheter for monitoring cardiac output. Displaced from a distal end of a heated catheter (30) is a resistive heater (32) that heats blood flowing within a heart muscle (10). The resistive heater is mounted on the catheter so that when the catheter is inserted into the heart, the resistive heater is disposed in the right ventricle. A temperature sensor (34) is disposed downstream of the resistive heater, in or proximate the pulmonary artery during use. A differential amplifier (40, 70) provides an electrical current to the resistive heater that varies as a function of the difference between the temperature of the resistive heater, measured by a temperature sensor (35), and a predetermined temperature. In another embodiment of the invention, a resistive heater (90) has a resistance that varies with temperature. The resistive heater comprises one arm of a bridge circuit (85). A differential amplifier (110) provides an electrical current to the bridge circuit in response to the voltage developed across the bridge circuit.
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