Standardised Framework to Study the Influence of Left Atrial RF Catheter Ablation Parameters on Permanent Lesion Formation

Radiofrequency ablation is a common procedure to treat atrial fibrillation, where the objective is to electrically isolate some regions of the myocardium from others to avoid the transmission of abnormal electrical signals. This is done with a catheter by delivering an RF signal in the targeted regions. Ideally, the signal will create a permanent lesion that would prevent the reappearance of the abnormal electrical signals and therefore terminate AF. There are many parameters involved in the process and naturally in its success. In this paper we present a framework for comparing RF ablation related parameters such as power of the signal, contact force, temperature and impedance with permanent and effective lesion formation. In order to do that we propose to use a standardised unfold map that allows us to directly compare atria with different shapes at different time-points and with different types of information. We tested the method in 8 real cases showing that it facilitates the analysis and comparison of the ablation related parameters with the outcome of the procedure.