At Heart Rhythm Society’s 36th annual scientific sessions in Boston, medical device company Acutus Medical Inc, of San Diego, presented promising results from a study involving patients with atrial flutter. According to the company, its AcQMap high resolution imaging and mapping 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.
Traditional mapping systems used during catheter ablation procedures capture and display a voltage field generated by heart tissue during activation, with the voltage field recording over a large area of heart tissue at each catheter placement. Electrophysiologists then see an average of all the tissue around the catheter, reducing the resolution. As a result, it is challenging for the physician to see the heart tissue in its “true” resolution and limits the possibility to map irregular and complex arrhythmias.
“The higher resolution image generated by the AcQMap System may open the possibility to truly map irregular heart rhythms with more precision and eliminate the unnecessary guesswork and lengthy procedures common today among even the most experienced electrophysiologist,” said Stephan Willems, MD, PhD, University Heart Center, University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. “The data also shows the potential of the AcQMap System to change clinical practice and improve treatment outcomes in patients with irregular and complex heart rhythm disorders.”
The AcQMap System is designed to generate real-time, 3D images of the heart chamber and detect and display both the standard voltage based maps, as well as the higher resolution dipole density maps. By combining highly accurate imaging with higher resolution mapping capabilities, electrophysiologists can identify and locate the responsible tissue for the irregular heart rhythm, target treatment with accuracy, and minimize heart ablation.
“Catheter ablation is a common treatment for heart rhythm disorders including atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation, but long-term success rates are low and limitations of voltage-based cardiac mapping technologies are in part to blame,” said Randy Werneth, president and chief executive of Acutus Medical. “We believe the AcQMap System can fulfill a significant unmet need in the treatment of irregular and complex heart rhythm disorders and look forward to continuing to build a body of evidence that supports its utility in the electrophysiology lab.”
As part of the study, data were collected from five of eight patients enrolled with atrial flutter to determine the difference in resolution of a dipole density map generated by the AcQMap System, to that of a standard voltage-based map.
Researchers used the AcQMap System to measure cardiac voltage, apply its dipole density algorithm, and display electrical activation on the ultrasound-constructed 3D anatomy, in real time. Each patient had a corresponding dipole density map and voltage-based map to show sinus rhythm, septal and lateral pacing, and atrial flutter. Investigators compared depolarized surface areas of each map and determined that during atrial flutter, mean depolarized area for dipole density maps was 26.6 cm2, significantly less than the voltage-based maps, which were 83.2 cm2.
Overall, the voltage-based map to dipole density map ratio was 4.1 for atrial flutter, 4.7 for sinus rhythm, and 4.5 for pacing.
For more information, visit Acutus Medical.
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