AtriCure, a medical device company and a provider in cardiac surgical ablation systems and systems for the exclusion of the left atrial appendage, has initiated patient enrollment in DEEP AF feasibility trial.
The Food and Drug Administration approved DEEP AF trial is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a dual epicardial/endocardial procedure (DEEP), or hybrid procedure, to treat atrial fibrillation patients with persistent and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF).
AtriCure said the hybrid procedure combines the benefits of both minimally invasive surgical ablation and catheter ablation and mapping techniques, leveraging the skills and technologies of both the cardiac surgeon and the electrophysiologist.
The DEEP AF trial uses AtriCure’s minimally invasive surgical ablation product platform in conjunction with the Biosense Webster Thermocool catheter ablation products.
The trial will enroll 30 patients and is being conducted at six prominent US medical centers.
AtriCure president and CEO David Drachman said this trial represents the copany’s continued commitment in improving patient outcomes by expanding the treatment options for patients that suffer from AF and the DEEP AF hybrid ablation procedure strengthens the partnership between electrophysiologists and cardiac surgeons in the interest of improving patient care.
"We believe the clinical science will demonstrate that our DEEP AF hybrid ablation procedure is an important treatment alternative for a large and rapidly growing number of patients with persistent AF as well as patients that have failed catheter ablation procedures," Drachman said.