Transoesophageal HIFU for cardiac ablation : Experiments on beating hearts

摘要

Atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia are currently treated with catheter ablation using radiofrequency or cryoenergy. These endocardiac approaches are invasive and not fully satisfactory as the treatments are often incomplete and can be associated with side effects. HIFU were proposed as an alternative strategy, by using the excellent acoustic window between heart and esophagus. The present work described feasibility of trans-oesophageal thermal ablation on ex-vivo beating heart and non-human primates.