Abstract

Finite element method (FEM) analysis has become a common method to analyze the lesion formation during temperature-controlled radiofrequency (RF) cardiac ablation. We present a process of FEM modeling a system including blood, myocardium, and an ablation catheter with a thermistor embedded at the tip. The simulation used a simple proportional-integral (PI) controller to control the entire process operated in temperature-controlled mode. Several factors affect the lesion size such as target temperature, blood flow rate, and application time. We simulated the time response of RF ablation at different locations by using different target temperatures. The applied sites were divided into two groups each with a different convective heat transfer coefficient. The first group was high-flow such as the atrioventricular (AV) node and the atrial aspect of the AV annulus, and the other was low-flow such as beneath the valve or inside the coronary sinus. Results showed the change of lesion depth and lesion width with time, under different conditions. We collected data for all conditions and used it to create a database. We implemented a user-interface, the lesion size estimator, where the user enters set temperature and location. Based on the database, the software estimated lesion dimensions during different applied durations. This software could be used as a first-step predictor to help the electrophysiologist choose treatment parameters.