A novel hybrid transcatheter ablation system that combines radiofrequency and cryoenergy

Radiofrequency (RF) and cryoenergy are largely considered independent modalities for the transcatheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias. There are numerous theoretical advantages to engineering a system capable of delivering both energy forms.

We designed a hybrid steerable catheter capable of delivering RF and cryoenergy independently, sequentially, and simultaneously. The novel catheter system was tested pre-clinically by creating a total of 180 ablation lesions in 20 mongrel dogs. Right atrial and right and left ventricular sites were preselected by a randomized factorial design devised to compare sequential and simultaneous RF and cryoenergy applications to standard RF, irrigated RF, and standard cryoablation. A steerable 4-mm electrode-tip hybrid catheter ("Fire and Ice") was created by modifying a 7 F cryocatheter (Freezor, CryoCath Technologies, Montreal, Canada). RF energy was injected via a copper wire, thermocouples were isolated to reduce RF interference, and 100 KHz band pass filters and RF chokes were added. Sequential low-dose RF (20 W, 60 seconds) preceding or following cryoablation resulted in larger lesions (P = 0.0010). The addition of RF energy did, however, produce more thrombus than cryoenergy alone, with clot detected on 82.4% versus 12.1% of ablation lesions, P < 0.0001. Simultaneously applying the two energy modalities (45 W, 10 or 30 degrees C, 60 seconds) created more voluminous lesions than standard RF ablation (median 288.1 vs 126.1 mm(3), P = 0.0333) of similar dimension to irrigated RF ablation.

A versatile catheter system was fashioned capable of creating standard cryoablation lesions, standard RF lesions, and simultaneous lesions of similar dimension to irrigated RF.