Importance

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Abstract

This invention is a medical device. It is a multipolar catheter assembly optionally in combination with a guidewire. Each of the catheter and the guidewire may be sheathed and have multiple electrodes at their distal ends. Because of their size and flexibility, the catheter and the guidewire may be used at virtually any point within the vasculature particularly, however, within the cardiac arteries or veins, perhaps in conjunction with external electrocardiogram leads, to map the body's electrical activity. When used in the heart, they may be used to determine the source of a cardiac arrythmia. The intimate presence of the guidewire or catheter body in the cardiac vasculature allows the response time to changes in cardiac electrical activity is very quick. The invention is also a method for mapping the electrical activity of the heart by use of one or more of these inventive guidewires or catheters in the cardiac arteries or veins. They may also be used to determine the local electrical activity of any site within the body, such as in the brain.

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First Claim