Endosense (Geneva, Switzerland) has announced that its TactiCath Quartz force sensing ablation catheter has been CE marked and is already being used at three European hospitals to treat cardiac arrhythmias.
The new catheter features a new force sensor that doesn’t require to be calibrated before the procedure, an improved interface and the entire equipment package has been shrunk a bit to be more friendly around the OR. The system provides digital output of its status and sensing data for interfacing with other technologies.
From the announcement:
Also new to the TactiCath Quartz is a breakthrough Lesion Index (LSI) parameter that provides an improved, real-time indication of lesion quality during catheter ablation procedures. Pioneered by Endosense, LSI is a sophisticated algorithm that correlates lesion formation with radiofrequency power, ablation time and contact force. Clinical data presented at Heart Rhythm 2012 showed that LSI is so far the best available parameter to predict risk for reconnection after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), with high statistical significance. The LSI will be available in addition to the already widely recognized FTI (Force Time Integral) feature, also developed by Endosense.
The TactiCath Quartz is CE mark approved for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). The new device and its accompanying TactiSys system are available commercially in Europe through Endosense’s distribution partner BIOTRONIK.
Press release: Endosense Announces CE Mark Approval, First Clinical Use of the New TactiCath® Quartz Force-Sensing Ablation Catheter…