St Jude Medical EnSite Contact Technology platform has received European CE mark approval at the 17th World Congress in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiac Techniques (CardioStim). The new technology offers physicians objective, real-time measurements to better determine catheter tip-to-tissue contact during ablation procedures.
St Jude Medical said that the new EnSite Contact Technology is a diagnostic system of ablation catheters, a hardware module, and specially designed software that measures, analyzes and displays electrical coupling, to determine the level of contact the ablation catheter’s tip with endocardial tissue during cardiac ablation therapy procedures.l
The EnSite Contact Technology works with both the EnSite System and the EnSite Velocity System, and conveniently displays information regarding the amount of contact the ablation catheter with the endocardial surface on the system screen. It was designed to be used with the Contact Therapy Cool Path Duo Ablation Catheter as well as other irrigated ablation catheters currently in development.
Using an irrigated catheter to cool the tip helps to reduce some of the risk factors associated with the heat of the RF energy, such as blood coagulation, charring and steam popping. The EnSite Contact Technology addresses the limitations in the techniques by establishing a quantitative, real-time and reproducible measurement of tip-to-tissue electrical contact.
Jane Song, president of the atrial fibrillation division at St Jude Medical, said: “St Jude Medical leads the way in developing innovative technologies designed to improve the safety and efficacy of catheter ablation. Our EnSite Contact Technology is another example of the many technology platforms in which St Jude Medical is delivering on its promise to put more control in the hands of physicians.”