Co-Author(s):
Megan Schmidt, PhD
Jean-pierre Lalonde, BS
David Ramirez, BS
Michael Getman, BS, MS
Southlake Regional Health Centre
596 Davis Dr. Newmarket, Ontario L3Y 2P9
Introduction | Objectives:Background: Contact force has proven to be influential for
lesion formation in power-controlled radiofrequency (RF) ablation.
However, this technology provides a surrogate for lesion formation. A
diamond tip catheter ablation system was specifically designed to
facilitate accurate temperature control and low irrigation for higher
power and shorter duration radiofrequency delivery.
Objectives: Lesion formation and morphology from a
temperature-controlled diamond tip RF ablation catheter is not well
described. We hypothesize that lesion formation from a
temperature-controlled RF system is independent of applied force over
short application duration.
Methods:Methods: This study examined lesion depth, lesion width,
temperature, and ablation parameters of the DiamondTemp Ablation (DTA,
Medtronic, Inc.) system for ablation applications delivered with a 5
second application duration and applied force (5, 10, and 30 g).
Lesions from perpendicular RF applications were analyzed in a stepwise
fashion from a computational model, thermochromic gel data (n=12), and
porcine thigh preparation (n=76) experiments.
Results:Results: Varying applied force (5, 10, and 30g) across an
application duration of 5 seconds consistently generated comparable
lesion dimensions for each model. In the computational model, lesion
depths from a 5 sec application with 5, 10, and 30 g of applied force
were similar (3.7, 3.9, and 3.7 mm, respectively). Also, the 5 sec
lesion depths in the gel model were consistent across applied force (5 g
= 3.2±0.12 mm, 10 g = 3.5±0.13 mm, 30 g = 3.5±0.20 mm). In the thigh
model, the 5, 10, and 30 g applied forces for 5 sec created lesion
depths of 3.1±0.46 mm, 3.2±0.97 mm, and 3.2±1.05 mm, respectively.
Conclusions:Conclusion: Lesion dimensions with the DTA
temperature-controlled RF ablation system showed no marked change with
increased applied force. Short 5 second application duration generated
consistent lesion dimensions across computational, thermochromic gel,
and thigh models.