9 Promising Cardio Technologies: Atrial Fibrillation 3-D Mapping and Imaging

Atrial Fibrillation 3-D Mapping and Imaging

Acutus Medical's catheter, called "The Katheter," is part of a system designed to construct 3-D images and maps showing electrical activation in the heart.

The success rate of catheter ablation procedures to treat atrial fibrillation varies widely, and there is plenty of room for improvement. The latest iterations of heart mapping technologies focus on helping electrophysiologists pinpoint the tissue that is the source of irregular heartbeat via 3-D maps and images, helping to speed afib catheter ablation procedures and improve success rates.

There are a few entries in this field, including the Topera 3D Mapping System, which had FDA clearance and CE Mark before being acquired by Abbott in late 2014. Another offering is Acutus Medical's AcQMap. Using a catheter with 48 ultrasound crystals and 48 biopotential electrodes, which is threaded into the atria of the heart, the system "generates a complete heart chamber electrical map that provides a four-fold improvement in resolution to record and display heart tissue function as compared to the standard voltage-based mapping used in patients with atrial flutter," according to a press release.

Acutus Medical hopes to commercialize the system in Europe in 2016, China and Japan in 2016, and a U.S. launch in 2016-2017.

[Image courtesy of ACTUS MEDICAL]

Learn how to design innovative structural heart therapies at the MD&M Minneapolis conference on September 21, 2016.