Guided Ablation System Treats Cardiac Arrhythmias

A novel cardiac mapping and ablation platform enables examination and treatment of target tissues with precision and accuracy.

The CardioNXT (Westminster, CO, USA) platform is comprised of two physical tools, Axis wearable patient patches and the MultiLink internal reference catheter, both outfitted with electromagnetic and impedance sensors to identify the exact location of the tissue causing an arrhythmia. Sensor readings are processed by the platforms iMap three dimensional (3D) Navigation & Mapping system and Activate software system so as to construct a 3D model of the heart, and also provide guidance during ablation procedures.

The iMap System uses dynamic referencing based 3D Navigation via a patented combination of dual tracking modalities (electromagnetic and impedance) that are generated by the proprietary internal reference MultiLink Catheter. During the subsequent cardiac ablation procedure, Activate software helps determine position coordinates for the surgical instruments in order to define precise location (relative to the constructed 3D heart model), and then guide the clinician safely towards the selected ablation site.

“CardioNXT has taken my advice to heart. I'm excited to see the improvements that can be made in the treatment of AFib patients with this technology. Treatment paradigms beyond PVI are still to be determined and we need systems like this one to help us evolve treatment strategies,” said Vivek Reddy, MD, director of cardiac arrhythmia service at Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, NY, USA). “My advice to all is that there must be a tight integration between complex mapping and accurate navigation in order for any map of the heart to be useful in the treatment of patients, especially complex cases such as persistent atrial fibrillation.”

AF ablation is a minimally invasive approach to create lesions (scar tissue) that interrupt irregular electrical signals in the heart, in a procedure known as pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). Since the pulmonary veins are often the major source of the cardiac arrhythmia, PVI via catheter ablation remains the cornerstone treatment for AF patients who are unresponsive to drug therapy.

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