St. Jude Medical has received European regulatory approval for the EnSite Contact cardiac ablation therapy system. The package includes ablation catheters along with a hardware and software system that determines the level of electrical contact catheter tips make with endocardial tissue during cardiac ablation procedures.
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 has with the endocardial surface on the system screen. It was designed to be used with the Contact Therapy(TM) Cool Path (TM) 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.
To understand the contact between the ablation catheter tip and endocardial tissue, electrophysiologists have previously been limited to qualitative techniques such as tactile feedback, fluoroscopic imaging and ablation generator impedance. The EnSite Contact Technology addresses the limitations in these techniques by establishing a quantitative, real-time and reproducible measurement of tip-to-tissue electrical contact.
Image: Screenshot of what the physician would see during a procedure.
Press release: St. Jude Medical Announces European Approval of EnSite Contact Technology Platform…
