Impedance detection of venous placement of multi-electrode catheters

1. A method of assessing electrode position, comprising:

positioning a plurality of electrodes within a heart and proximate a pulmonary vein;

conducting non-ablative radiofrequency energy between each of the plurality of electrodes and a ground electrode external to the heart, the conduction of non-ablative radiofrequency energy being a duty-cycled conduction having at least one on period and at least one off period;

obtaining an impedance measurement from each of the plurality of electrodes during each of the at least one on period and during each of the at least one off period;

determining whether any of the plurality of electrodes is located within the pulmonary vein based at least in part on a comparison between the impedance measurements obtained during each of the at least one on period and the impedance measurements obtained during each of the at least one off period; and

generating an indication if at least one of the plurality of electrodes is determined to be located within the pulmonary vein.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the impedance measurement is between each of the plurality of electrodes and a ground electrode external to the heart.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether any of the plurality of electrodes is located within the pulmonary vein includes comparing an obtained impedance measurement to a predefined impedance value.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising preventing ablative energy delivery to an electrode determined to be located within the pulmonary vein.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising conducting non-ablative radiofrequency energy through the plurality of electrodes while positioning the electrodes.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrode external to the heart includes a plurality of electrodes external to the heart and the control unit is programmed to conduct non-ablative radiofrequency energy between each of the plurality of electrodes and the plurality of electrodes external to the heart.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising conducting the non-ablative radiofrequency energy between the plurality of electrodes.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether any of the plurality of electrodes is located on an antrum of the pulmonary vein based at least in part on the obtained impedance measurements; and

generating an indication if at least one of the plurality of electrodes is determined to be located on the antrum of the pulmonary vein.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining whether any of the plurality of electrodes is located on an antrum of the pulmonary vein includes comparing an obtained impedance measurement to a predefined impedance value.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising conducting ablative radiofrequency energy through at least one of the plurality of electrodes.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising obtaining an impedance measurement during the conduction of the ablative radiofrequency signal.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the generated indication includes visually displaying at least one of 1) a measured impedance value, 2) a calculated difference between a measured impedance value and a predetermined impedance value, and 3) a calculated difference between at least two measured impedance values.

13. A medical system, comprising:

a medical device having a plurality of electrodes;

a control unit coupled to the medical device, the control unit programmed to:

conduct non-ablative radiofrequency energy between each of the plurality of electrodes and at least one electrode external to the heart, the conduction of non-ablative radio frequency energy being a duty-cycled conduction having at least one on period and at least one off period;

obtain an impedance measurement from each of the plurality of electrodes during each of the at least one on period and during each of the at least one off period;

determine whether any of the plurality of electrodes is located within the pulmonary vein based at least in part on a comparison between the impedance measurements obtained during each of the at least one on period and the impedance measurements obtained during each of the at least one off period; and

generate an indication if at least one of the plurality of electrodes is determined to be located within the pulmonary vein.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control unit determines whether any of the plurality of electrodes is located within the pulmonary vein by comparing an obtained impedance measurement to a predefined impedance value.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control unit determines whether any of the plurality of electrodes is located within the pulmonary vein by comparing one of the obtained impedance measurements to another one of the obtained impedance measurements.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control unit is programmed to prevent ablative energy delivery through an electrode determined to be located within the pulmonary vein.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the generated indication includes visually displaying at least one of 1) a measured impedance value, 2) a calculated difference between a measured impedance value and a predetermined impedance value, and 3) a calculated difference between at least two measured impedance values.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control unit is further programmed to prevent ablative energy delivery to any of the plurality of electrodes determined to be located within the pulmonary vein.

19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control unit is further programmed to conduct ablative radio frequency energy through at least one of the plurality of electrodes.