The first patient has been enrolled and treated in the QDOT AF study (Biosense Webster). The study will evaluate the delivery of high power, short duration ablation with QDOT MICRO, a novel radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). The first AF patient was treated at OLV Hospital in Aalst, Belgium, one of eight centres in Europe part of the study that will be enrolling up to 50 patients.
QDOT MICRO is a next generation catheter designed to treat AF in a catheter ablation procedure. In what will be a world-first, it delivers 90 watts of RF power in a four-second temperature-controlled catheter ablation session. Its optimised temperature control and micro-electrode technology is designed to provide more efficient and consistent lesion creation with advanced diagnostics, while simplifying the technique and reducing total ablation time.
“The concept of high power short duration ablation is novel and a potentially ground-breaking advancement for the industry,” says Tom De Potter (Cardiovascular Center, Department of Cardiology, Electrophysiology Section, OLV Hospital, Belgium), one of the study clinical investigators, and the first to perform the QDOT MICRO procedure. “The new modality could result in improvements in clinical outcomes and procedural efficiencies and I look forward to further investigation.”
QDOT MICRO, which is only available for investigational use in Europe, is a steerable multi-electrode catheter with a deflectable tip designed to facilitate electrophysiological mapping of the heart and to transmit RF current to the catheter tip electrode for ablation purposes. In addition to force-sensing technology, the catheter incorporates six thermocouple temperature sensors and three micro electrodes embedded in its tip.
