Iterative navigation of multipole diagnostic catheters to locate repeating-pattern atrial fibrillation drivers

Targeting repeating-pattern atrial fibrillation (AF) sources (reentry or focal drivers) can help in patient-specific ablation therapy for AF; however, the development of reliable and accurate tools for locating such sources remains a major challenge. We describe iterative catheter navigation (ICAN) algorithm to locate AF drivers using a conventional circular Lasso catheter.

At each step, the algorithm analyzes 10 bipolar electrograms recoded at a given catheter location and the history of previous catheter movements to determine if the source is inside the catheter loop. If not, it calculates new coordinates and selects a new position for the catheter. The process continues until a source is located. The algorithm was evaluated in a computer model of atrial tissue with various degrees of fibrosis under a broad range of arrhythmia scenarios. The latter included slow and fast reentry, macroreentry, figure-of-eight reentry, and fibrillatory conduction. Depending on the initial distance of the catheter from the source and scenario, it took about 3 to 16 steps to localize an AF source. In 94% of cases, the identified location was within 4 mm from the source, independently of the initial position of the catheter. The algorithm worked equally well in the presence of patchy fibrosis, low-voltage areas, fragmented electrograms, and dominant-frequency gradients.

AF repeating-pattern sources can be localized using circular catheters without the need to map the entire tissue. The proposed algorithm has the potential to become a useful tool for patient-specific ablation of AF sources located outside the pulmonary veins.