TactiCath Quartz Contact Force Ablation Catheter (VIDEO)

The FDA has given St. Jude Medical approval to introduce its TactiCath Quartz ablation catheter to the U.S. market. The device provides live contact pressure information during cardiac ablation procedures when treating atrial fibrillation (AF).

During conventional transcatheter cardiac ablation, the physician manually estimates the force being applied to the heart’s tissue. Since the contact pressure is proportional to the amount of tissue that ends up ablated, a wrong estimate can lead to an insufficient ablation that doesn’t resolve AF or overly aggressive treatment that can cause injury to nearby tissue.

Here’s an animation describing the TactiCath system:

Flashbacks: Endosense’s TactiCath Quartz Force Sensing Cardiac Ablation Cath Now Available in Europe…; TactiCath Pressure Sensing Ablation Catheter Soon Available in Europe…

Product page: TactiCath Quartz Contact Force Ablation…

Press release: St. Jude Medical Receives FDA Approval of TactiCath Quartz Contact Force Ablation Catheter for Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation…