St. Jude Medical received FDA clearance for its MediGuide Enabled ablation catheters. The MediGuide 
system uses magnets to track vascular access devices in real time and in 3D, and overlays that data over fluoroscopic images taken earlier in the procedure. This reduces radiation exposure for both the patient and clinicians working close to the X-ray source.
The new ablation catheters are used to create lesions within cardiac tissue to attenuate the difference in the rate at which the heart’s chambers beat relative to each other. The catheters can be snaked to the therapy site and used to create ablations all without using X-rays to visualize the procedure. Dr. Chun Hwang, Director Cardiac Electrophysiology, from Utah Valley Regional Medical Center was the first to use the new catheters in an interventional procedure.
Here’s a video overview of the MediGuide technology:
St. Jude Medical Announces Approval and First Use of MediGuide Enabled Ablation Catheters…