The Effect Of Saline Irrigation On Temperature Profile During Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation

School Name

South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Engineering

Presentation Type

Mentored

Mentor

Mentor: Dieter Haemmerich, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina

Oral Presentation Award

1st Place

Written Paper Award

2nd Place

Abstract

Radiofrequency (RF) ablation can be a permanent solution to certain types of cardiac arrhythmia, including many supraventricular tachycardias (SVTs). Irrigation of saline through the RF catheter may increase the success rate of ablation procedures by enabling larger lesions. In order to test the effectiveness of irrigated catheters, we created an in vitro model with agarose gel, a saline pump system to simulate blood flow, and a heating coil to keep the saline temperature at 37ºC. The tissue temperature profile was recorded via infrared (IR) imaging at a rate of 1 Hz and with a 320 x 240 resolution. We assessed the performance of a prototype catheter by Advanced Cardiac Technologies in trials with irrigation and without irrigation. In these trials, we varied the velocity of simulated blood flow as well as the applied power. We quantified the success of the ablations by measuring the area of tissue that reached temperatures of at least 50ºC, which represents the region of ablated cells. In addition, we quantitatively compared maximum tissue temperature and temperature profile between the irrigated and non-irrigated trials.

Start Date

4-11-2015 2:30 PM

End Date

4-11-2015 2:45 PM

COinS
 
Apr 11th, 2:30 PM Apr 11th, 2:45 PM

The Effect Of Saline Irrigation On Temperature Profile During Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation

Radiofrequency (RF) ablation can be a permanent solution to certain types of cardiac arrhythmia, including many supraventricular tachycardias (SVTs). Irrigation of saline through the RF catheter may increase the success rate of ablation procedures by enabling larger lesions. In order to test the effectiveness of irrigated catheters, we created an in vitro model with agarose gel, a saline pump system to simulate blood flow, and a heating coil to keep the saline temperature at 37ºC. The tissue temperature profile was recorded via infrared (IR) imaging at a rate of 1 Hz and with a 320 x 240 resolution. We assessed the performance of a prototype catheter by Advanced Cardiac Technologies in trials with irrigation and without irrigation. In these trials, we varied the velocity of simulated blood flow as well as the applied power. We quantified the success of the ablations by measuring the area of tissue that reached temperatures of at least 50ºC, which represents the region of ablated cells. In addition, we quantitatively compared maximum tissue temperature and temperature profile between the irrigated and non-irrigated trials.