Ablation catheter with covered electrodes allowing electrical conduction therethrough

摘要

A surface covering including a primary layer of a porous polymer structure and a secondary surface covering one or both of a metallic element layer and a hydrophilic layer is positioned over the surface of an ablation electrode. The pores of the surface covering are sized such that blood platelets are prevented from contacting the surface of the electrode while physiological fluid is allowed to pass through and contact the electrode surface to hereby provide a conduction path for current from the electrodes. The surface covering may further include an electrically non-conductive and thermally conductive portion positioned over another portion of the electrode to prevent alternate or non-intended site ablations.