System and method for anatomical mapping of tissue and planning ablation paths therein

Abstract

Methods for ablating tissue in a patient having atrial fibrillation comprise advancing an elongate flexible shaft through a patient's vasculature into a chamber of a heart. The elongate flexible shaft has an energy source and a sensor. Tissue in the heart is scanned with the sensor and data about the tissue is captured. The captured data is grouped into one of a plurality of tissue classifications and an anatomical map of the tissue showing the grouped data is displayed. At least a portion of the tissue is ablated so as to form a conduction block that blocks aberrant electrical pathways in the heart. The ablated tissue is grouped into one or more predefined tissue classifications during or prior to the ablation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of ablating tissue in a patient, said method comprising:
 providing an elongate shaft having an energy source and a sensor adjacent a distal end of the elongate shaft;   planning an initial ablation path in the tissue;   displaying the initial ablation path on a map along with exclusion zones;   revising the initial ablation path to avoid the exclusion zones; and   ablating the tissue along the revised ablation path.