Abstract: This invention is a circumferential ablation device assembly which is adapted to forming a circumferential conduction block in a pulmonary vein. The assembly includes a circumferential ablation element which is adapted to ablate a circumferential region of tissue along a pulmonary vein wall which circumscribes the pulmonary vein lumen, thereby transecting the electrical conductivity of the pulmonary vein against conduction along its longitudinal axis and into the left atrium. The circumferential ablation element includes an expandable member with a working length that is adjustable from a radially collapsed position to a radially expanded position. An equatorial band circumscribes the outer surface of the working length and is adapted to ablate tissue adjacent thereto when actuated by an ablation actuator.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 17, 2000
Date of Patent:
July 9, 2002
Assignee:
The Regents of the University of California
Inventors:
Michael D. Lesh, Michael Ronald Ross, Jonathan J. Langberg, James C. Peacock, III