Computational Modeling to Study the Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmias using Radiofrequency Ablation

A. González-Suárez[1], M. Trujillo[2], J. Koruth[3], A. D'Avila[3], E. Berjano[1]
[1]Biomedical Synergy, Electronic Engineering Department,Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
[2]Instituto Universitario de Matemática Pura y Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
[3]Helmsley Cardiac Electrophysiology Center, Mt SinaiMedicalCenter and School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Published in 2012

Previous studies proposed using bipolar radiofrequency ablation across two catheters placed on opposing surfaces of the ventricular wall to create transmural lesions. 2D and 3D models were built and solved with COMSOL Multiphysics software. With these models, it was possible to study the temperature distribution and lesion geometry (Figure), to compare the potential of two ways of applying electrical currents (bipolar mode, BM, vs. sequential unipolar, SUM) and to investigate the effect of other factors such as the ventricular wall thicknesses and catheter misalignment have never been studied in detail. Our results suggest that BM is in general more effective than SUM in achieving transmurality through the ventricular wall. These results could improve the safety and performance of these procedures.