Optical System Illuminates Cardiac Ablation Procedures

The optical technology is used to directly interrogate cardiac tissue with light prior to and during ablation in order to identify tissue contact, visualize lesions, and detect lesion gaps in real-time, all without using pressure sensors or ultrasound.

The system delivers illumination and retrieves tissue fluorescence via an optical fiber with the intention of providing better tissue contact and lesion formation assessment during ablation to reduce procedure times, fluoroscopy times, arrhythmia recurrences, and costs. The LuxCath system is a product of LuxCath (Boston, MA, USA) and can be utilized as a standalone catheter or as an embedded optical technology that can be integrated into an existing ablation catheter.

“The technology identified tissue contact and was easy to use in a wide variety of settings, and we were able to assess and monitor ablation lesions as they were being created. There were no complications,” said Vivek Reddy, MD, who led the first-in-man clinical trial in 11 arrhythmia patients at Homolka Hospital (Prague, Czech Republic) conducted during December 2015. “This is an exciting step forward in the world of ablation. Based on our experience, the technology platform is quite promising.”

“We are thrilled with the performance of our optical tissue interrogation system for contact and lesion progression assessment,” said Omar Amirana, MD, CEO of LuxCath and senior vice president of its parent company, Allied Minds (Boston, MA, USA). “Given the potential to positively impact all ablation procedures, we are excited to advance the technology into the marketplace. This is an enormous milestone for the company.”

AF occurs when the heart's two upper chambers beat erratically. In one form of the condition, paroxysmal AF, patients have bouts of erratic beats that begin spontaneously and usually last less than a week. AF and other arrhythmias can lead to serious adverse events such as thrombi travelling from the heart to obstruct arteries supplying the brain, causing stroke, or thrombi in other parts of the body, causing tissue damage.

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