Development of vascular phantoms for ablation catheter technology optimization

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Cardiovascular diseases affect 36.9% of the population. It is estimated that 4-5 million people are affected byatrial fibrillation (irregular heart beat) in the US and about 350000 in Canada. An important treatment iscatheter ablation of the erratic conductive cells causing the fibrillation, located near the pulmonary veins ostiain the left atrium. Catheter ablation involves the insertion of a catheter in the groin and directed via the venacava into the right atria. The septal wall between the right atrium and the left atrium is punctured to access thepulmonary veins ostia. The catheter tip delivers energy (radio frequency, cryogenic, ultrasound) to isolate theerratic conductive cells. However, catheter ablation is associated with complications rates of about 4.5%including atrio-esophageal fistula, a life threatening condition. Improvement of the technology requires aprecise assessment of the orientation, positioning, contact forces and navigation through the tissue and deliveryof the energy for achieving the desired isolation while avoiding unwanted perforation and burn/freeze. AgileMV is developing an adjunctive device to ablation catheters that has the potential to provide better positioning,reduce associated potential vessel damage while decreasing the intervention time for an improved patientoutcome and lower hospital/physician costs. In this project, we propose to use a methodology that wedeveloped for making anatomically and biomechanically correct hydrogel vascular phantoms to reproduce thespecific anatomy of the left atrium, right atrium and vena cava to optimize the biomechanical parameters ofAgile MV's design to ensure most favorable treatment. We will use an approach that we developed for othervascular structures (ascending aorta, AAA) and customize it for Agile's project by reconstructing the vena cava,right atrium and left atrium. This approach makes uses of PVA (PolyVinyl Alcohol) to reproduce the elasticproperties of vascular tissue. This provides realistic and reproducible vascular phantoms for testinginterventional technology.