Evaluation of a Novel MR-RF Ablation Catheter with Full Clinical Functionality

Steffen Weiss¹, Bernd David¹, Kai-Michael Luedeke¹, Oliver Lips¹, Daniel Wirtz¹, Sascha Krueger¹, Peter Koken¹, Ronald Holthuizen², Tobias Schaeffter³, Jas Gill³, Reza Razavi³

Earlier work on an MR-RF ablation catheter has been complemented by adding a sensor to measure the temperature of the ablation electrode as in standard catheters but here connected via highly resistive wires. This provides much increased RF safety and compatibility with clinical RF generators. All wiring in the final prototype either dampens RF resonances by high resistance or avoids RF resonances by segmentation of long cables into short sections using transformers and switches. RF safety of the catheter is demonstrated by RF heating measurements, and all EP functions of the catheter are evaluated by various measurements including MR-guided ablation procedures.