Biosense Webster has announced the US launch of the ThermoCool SmartTouch SF catheter. According to a company release, the catheter pairs contact force technology with a porous tip designed to optimise efficiency by providing uniform cooling at half the flow rate of earlier generation irrigated catheters, easing the fluid management process.
“The ThermoCool SmartTouch SF catheter is an exciting development for patients and electrophysiologists alike, addressing many of the challenges faced using earlier technologies,” says Larry A Chinitz, professor of Medicine and Cardiac Electrophysiology and clinical director of the Leon Charney Division of Cardiology at the New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA. “With its combination of contact force technology and porous tip design, the device integrates two important features in a way that will help physicians like myself improve outcomes for patients being treated with catheter ablation.”
Clinical data has demonstrated the safety of the device when used to treat drug refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The SMART-AF trial, a multicentre, prospective study of the earlier generation ThermoCool SmartTouch technology, revealed no unanticipated adverse events and demonstrated a success rate of greater than 80 percent, with increased stability within the contact force range. The more recent SMART-SF study, which tested the newest generation ThermoCool SmartTouch SF catheter, demonstrated excellent safety results as well. The study found an 18.7% reduction in overall procedure time and a 14.2% reduction in overall ablation time when compared to the SMART-AF study. It also demonstrated a 55.2% reduction in total fluoroscopy time, limiting radiation exposure to patients.
“The ThermoCool SmartTouch SF catheter represents a significant advancement for the clinical community,” says Andrea Natale, executive medical director of the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at St David’s Medical Center in Austin, USA. “Conducted trials, including the SMART-AF and SMART-SF studies, have shown Biosense Webster technology enables physicians to achieve targeted stability in the defined contact force range, leading to shorter procedure times and enhanced results without compromising safety.”
The catheter is seamlessly integrated with the Carto 3 System, which combines contact force technology, 3-D mapping and advanced navigation capabilities to provide active measurement of stable contact force and catheter tip location.
The ThermoCool SmartTouch SF catheter is available for commercial sale in the United States and Europe.
