Medical device company St. Jude Medical has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its TactiCath Quartz irrigated ablation catheter.
TactiCath Quartz’s newest technology provides physicians a real-time and objective measure of the force, which the catheter applies to a patient’s heart wall during an ablation procedure.
St. Jude Medical group president Eric Fain said the company has a long history of introducing leading ablation technologies to the electrophysiology community.
"This approval speaks to our commitment to investing in and developing world class, cost-effective solutions that are backed by clinical evidence in order to improve the quality of care for millions of patients impacted by atrial fibrillation," Fain added.
The catheter’s contact-force technology has been designed to offer physicians with more control to modify the force during ablation procedures, which allows in creating more effective lesions for patients being treated for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF).
The ablation catheter helps electrophysiologists to monitor the amount of pressure that a catheter tip exerts on the endocardium.
According to the company, ablation catheters such as the TactiCath Quartz irrigated ablation catheter, are thin and flexible wires used in treating irregular heartbeats, which impair the heart’s ability to effectively pump blood throughout the body.
The firm provides services in four clinical areas, which include cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation.
Image: TactiCath Quartz irrigated ablation catheter with EnSite Contact Force Module. Photo: courtesy of St. Jude Medical, Inc.