Handle for catheter assembly with multifunction wire

Details Handle for catheter assembly with multifunction wire Handle for catheter assembly with multifunction wire

2000-05-25

2001-07-17

Dvorak, Linda C. M. (Department: 3739)

Surgery

Diagnostic testing

Structure of body-contacting electrode or electrode inserted...

C606S041000, C607S122000, C600S585000, C604S528000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06263224

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Electrophysiology catheters are designed for use in mapping and/or ablation of the heart. Electrophysiology catheters typically include a number of band electrodes mounted to the tip portion of the catheter shaft and a tip electrode at the distal end of the catheter shaft. To properly manipulate the electrodes against the target sites within a heart, the tip portion must be flexible and capable of being manipulated into a variety of shapes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 5,487,757, entitled “Multicurved Deflectable Catheter, ” the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, discloses an electrophysiology catheter in which the tip portion can be deflected radially by pulling on a manipulator wire and also defected laterally by rotating a core wire which extends into the tip section. In addition to the manipulator and core wires, this patent discloses the use of an axially slidable stiffener wire, the distal end of which can be located at different positions along the tip portion to change the stiffness of the tip, and thus the general size of the curve in the tip.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to improvements for a catheter assembly of the type having a multifunction wire. The proximal end of the multifunction wire is both rotated about its longitudinal axis and slid longitudinally. This rotational and longitudinal movement occurs when the user operates lateral deflection and longitudinal position manipulators mounted to the handle body.
The catheter assembly also includes a catheter shaft extending from the distal end of a handle body with the proximal portion of a multifunction wire extending into the handle body. The multifunction wire is pulled and pushed longitudinally and is rotated about its axis to provide multiple functions for the catheter shaft.
The longitudinal position manipulator is preferably slidably mounted to the body of the handle for movement between first and second longitudinally spaced apart positions. The longitudinal position manipulator is connected to the multifunction wire through a rotary coupling so that movement of the longitudinal position manipulator causes longitudinal movement of the multifunction wire but does not hinder the free rotational movement of the proximal portion of the multifunction wire.
The lateral deflection manipulator is preferably rotatably mounted to the body of the handle. The proximal end of the multifunction wire preferably has an elongate drive adapter which passes through a hole in a first gear; the first gear is rotatably mounted to the handle body at a fixed position aligned with the lateral defection manipulator. The lateral deflection manipulator is rotatably coupled to the first gear, and thus to the drive adapter, typically by second and third gears. The drive adapter and first gear have interfering torquing surfaces so that rotation of the lateral deflection manipulator causes the drive adapter, and thus the proximal portion of the multifunction wire, to rotate about its own longitudinal axis while not hindering the free longitudinal movement of the drive adapter through the first gear.
In addition to the multifunction wire, a radial deflection wire, for example, can also be used with the invention. The proximal end of the radial deflection wire is preferably coupled to a radial deflection manipulator in a way which permits the rotary orientation of the proximal end of the radial deflection wire to be adjusted relative to the handle. This is typically done to remove, during assembly, undesirable twisting, corkscrewing, or other deflection of the tip portion of the catheter shaft. The longitudinal movement of the longitudinal position manipulator and the radial deflection manipulator can be limited by use of movable stops which can be mounted to the handle body at a range of longitudinal positions. The longitudinal stops can be configured so that the longitudinal positions of the abutment faces of the stops change according to the orientation of the stops.
The multifunction wire preferably extends into the flexible tip portion of the catheter shaft and is freely longitudinally slidable within the tip portion. Torquing force, which creates lateral deflection of the radially deflected tip portion, is preferably transmitted from the multifunction wire to the tip portion by providing both the distal end of the multifunction wire and the multifunction wire lumen within the tip portion with interfering torquing surfaces, such as created when the two have generally complementary oblong cross-sectional shapes.
Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5487757 (1996-01-01), Truckai et al.

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