A method for determining a location of an arrhythmogenic foci (632) in or near a heart (101) includes the steps of positioning a locator assembly (100) within the heart (101), the locator assembly (100) including a plurality of electrodes (102) that receive electrical signals from the heart (101), generating a first signal array (733) from the electrical signals received by the plurality of electrodes (102) to determine an actual location of the arrhythmogenic foci (632), artificially stimulating the heart (101) based on the actual location determined by the first signal array (733) to generate a second signal array (733), and confirming the actual location of the arrhythmogenic foci (632) by comparing the first signal array (733) with the second signal array (735). In some embodiments, the locator assembly (100) includes a plurality of bipolar electrodes (102).

An ultrapolar electrosurgery blade assembly with argon beam capability and an ultrapolar electrosurgery pencil with argon beam capability that are both capable of using monopolar energy in a bipolar mode for cutting and coagulation and using ionized gas for cutting and coagulation.

Disclosed embodiments include apparatuses, systems, and methods for positioning electrodes within a body. In an illustrative embodiment, an apparatus for slidably moving multiple features relative to a sheath insertable into a body and positionable relative to a reference point includes a primary actuator configured to move a primary electrode to a first position. A secondary actuator is configured to move a secondary electrode to a second position. A shrouding device is configured to selectively prevent access to the secondary actuator until the primary actuator has been manipulated to extend the primary electrode to the first position.

An ultrapolar telescopic electrosurgery pencil with argon beam capability that is capable of using monopolar energy in a bipolar mode for cutting and coagulation and also using ionized gas for cutting and coagulation.

A device for radio frequency ablation, configured to deliver a direct current, an alternating current, and a radio frequency energy to a lesion for treating a pulmonary disease. The device for radio frequency ablation can determine the effectiveness of an ablation according to one or more of a fall in impedance, a rate of change in impedance, a change in the rate of change in impedance, or a change from falling in impedance to rising in impedance. The device for radio frequency ablation uses a segmentation control method and dynamic smoothing for adjusting a radio frequency output power to control an ablation temperature, and the tissue to be ablated is prevented from being quickly heated in short time, to ensure a smooth change in the radio frequency output power in the ablation process. The device for radio frequency ablation further comprises a specific protection mechanism for preventing repeated ablation. The temperature of an ablation site is detected before each ablation, and ablation will not be performed if the temperature of the ablation site is higher than 40° C. to 60° C. Also disclosed is a multi-electrode ablation device comprising the device for radio frequency ablation.

Described herein are embodiments of a switching network for integrating electrophysiology components into an electrophysiology system. These electrophysiology components may include electrophysiology recorder, three-dimensional mapping systems, radio frequency generators, and stimulators. The switching network provides switchable connections, which allow the electrophysiology system to be reconfigured to perform different electrophysiology procedures, such as heart signal recording and mapping, cardiac ablation, or cardiac pacing. A recorder may provide control signals to the switching network to change connections between electrophysiology equipment and a catheter in a patient's heart. The electrophysiology system may control generation of biphasic pulses for use in cardiac pacing. The electrophysiology system may reconfigure the effective size the tip electrode of a split tip catheter.

Example methods and apparatuses are disclosed for providing tissue ablation through electrolysis, electroporation, or a combination thereof. A pulse that has an element of decay may be applied to a target for tissue ablation while the decay is modulated. In some examples, apparatus including a controller and switches may be used to modulate the decay and/or selectively apply the pulse to the target. The apparatus may further include resistors and/or other elements to modulate a magnitude of the pulse and/or a slope of a decay of the pulse.

Disclosed is a surgical system, comprising surgical hubs configured to be communicatively coupled to surgical instruments in surgical procedures; and a cloud computing system, comprising an input/output interface configured for accessing data from the surgical hubs. The cloud computing system is configured to aggregate surgical instrument data and patient outcome date from the surgical hubs; determine a correlation between the surgical instrument data and the patient outcome data; access a live surgical procedure data for a live surgical procedure; and determine an irregularity in the live surgical procedure data based on the correlation.

Disclosed is a cloud computing system for use with surgical hubs communicatively coupled to surgical instruments in surgical procedures. The cloud computing system includes an input/output interface configured for receiving raw data from the surgical hubs, wherein the raw data are generated from operation of the surgical instruments in the surgical procedures. The cloud computing system further includes a data collection and aggregation module configured to: identify patterns in the raw data; generate metadata based on the patterns; aggregate raw data into data sets based on a predetermined classification system; and store aggregated data sets in a database.

Disclosed is a surgical system that includes a surgical hub couplable with inventory items of an institution, and a cloud-based analytics system communicatively coupled to the surgical hub. The cloud-based analytics system is configured to receive a selection of a surgical procedure to be performed; determine a property of a tissue to be treated in the surgical procedure; select from the inventory items a surgical device for use in the surgical procedure based on the tissue property; and suggest using the surgical device in the surgical procedure based on availability of the surgical device in inventory.