A catheter includes an inflatable balloon for insertion into an organ of a patient, one or more electrodes and a coil. The one or more electrodes are disposed on a surface of the inflatable balloon and are configured to be placed in contact with tissue of the organ, and to perform at least one of: (i) sensing one or more electrical signals from the tissue, and (ii) applying one or more ablation pulses to the tissue. The coil is disposed on the surface of the inflatable balloon, and is configured to output a signal indicative of at least one of: (i) a temperature of the tissue, and (ii) a magnetic field indicative of a position of the catheter in the organ.

An apparatus includes a body, a shaft assembly, and a visualization assembly. The body includes first and second actuators. The shaft assembly extends distally from the body and includes a rigid proximal portion and a steerable distal portion. The steerable distal portion is positioned distally relative to the rigid proximal portion. The first actuator is operable to drive the steerable distal portion to deflect laterally relative to a longitudinal axis defined by the rigid proximal portion. The steerable distal portion is configured to fit within a nasal cavity of a patient. The visualization assembly is disposed within the shaft assembly. The visualization assembly includes a camera. The second actuator is operable to drive longitudinal translation of the visualization assembly relative to the shaft assembly.

Catheter apparatuses, systems, and methods for achieving renal neuromodulation by intravascular access are disclosed herein. One aspect of the present technology, for example, is directed to a treatment device having a multi-electrode array configured to be delivered to a renal blood vessel. The array is selectively transformable between a delivery or low-profile state (e.g., a generally straight shape) and a deployed state (e.g., a radially expanded, generally helical shape). The multi-electrode array is sized and shaped so that the electrodes or energy delivery elements contact an interior wall of the renal blood vessel when the array is in the deployed (e.g., helical) state. The electrodes or energy delivery elements are configured for direct and/or indirect application of thermal and/or electrical energy to heat or otherwise electrically modulate neural fibers that contribute to renal function or of vascular structures that feed or perfuse the neural fibers.

An elongated medical needle defines an open lumen presenting a distal face configured to be maneuvered toward, and positionable proximate to, the biological feature of the patient. A lid assembly is configured to selectively cover, at least in part, the distal face of the open lumen. The lid assembly is also configured to selectively emit energy toward the biological feature.

Certain embodiments described herein relate to a system for use in analyzing neural activity of nerves surrounding a biological lumen. The system includes a probe body, electrodes, a stimulator, and an amplifier. The stimulator delivers electrical stimulation via a first pair of the electrodes, supported by the probe body, to test for an evoked neural response by nerves surrounding the biological lumen. The amplifier includes a pair of input terminals, an output terminal, and a ground reference terminal. A second pair of the electrodes is electrically coupled to the pair of input terminals of the amplifier, to thereby enable the amplifier to produce the sensed signal indicative of the evoked neural response. A remaining one of the electrodes, which is not included in the first and the second pairs of the electrodes, is electrically coupled to the ground reference terminal of the amplifier.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for locating and identifying nerves innervating the wall of arteries such as the renal artery. The present invention identifies areas on vessel walls that are innervated with nerves; provides indication on whether energy is delivered accurately to a targeted nerve; and provides immediate post-procedural assessment of the effect of energy delivered to the nerve. The methods include evaluating a change in physiological parameters after energy is delivered to an arterial wall; and determining the type of nerve that the energy was directed to (sympathetic or parasympathetic or none) based on the evaluated results. The system includes at least a device for delivering energy to the wall of blood vessel; sensors for detecting physiological signals from a subject; and indicators to display results obtained using said method. Also provided are catheters for performing the mapping and ablating functions.

An apparatus (20) for treating a blockage in a body of a subject includes a tube (22) configured for insertion into the body and shaped to define: a first lumen (24), and a second lumen (26) having a distal opening (28). The apparatus further includes a pair of electrodes configured to apply an electric current to the blockage upon application of a voltage between the electrodes, the pair including an outer electrode (30) wrapped around the tube and an inner electrode (32) configured to pass through the first lumen. Other embodiments are also described.

A spring-loaded catheter for electrophysiology studies and irreversible electroporation within the heart, comprises core of catheter protruding from sleeve main conduit is made of shape-retaining metal alloy and is bent in shape of conical spiral with different number of coils, at least one of which is equipped with sleeve electrodes imposed on this core, supply through insulated electric wires and separated from each other with plastic ring elements, where diameter Ø1 of first coil of spiral is 5 mm to 30 mm, and diameter Ø2 of last coil of spiral is 10 mm to 31 mm, while length of each of these electrodes is 2 mm to 4 mm, and diameter Ø is from 1 mm to 3 mm, and these electrodes send pulse with amplitude of 100-3000V in time and 5 microseconds to 6 milliseconds, and number of electrodes distributed on spiral of catheter ranges 10 to 65 pieces.

A method for the treatment of a patient for the purpose of lowering blood pressure and/or treating other medical conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias. A catheter having an ablation element is placed inside the body of a patient and is directed to a targeted location either on in the abdominal aorta where the right or left renal arteries branch from the aorta at or near the superior junction or ostia or on the inside of the inferior vena cava near the junction with the right renal vein or in the left renal vein at a position spatially near where the left renal artery branches from the abdominal aorta. Catheters designed for use in the method where these targeted locations are also disclosed and claimed.

A method of analyzing a complex rhythm disorder in a human heart includes accessing signals from a plurality of sensors disposed spatially in relation to the heart, where the signals are associated with activations of the heart, and identifying a region of the heart having an activation trail that is rotational or radially emanating, where the activation trail is indicative of the complex rhythm disorder and is based on activation times associated with the activations of the heart.