Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation of Cardiac Arrhythmias

Radiofrequency ablation could be described as a thermal strategy to destroy a tissue by increasing its temperature and causing anirreversible cellular injury. Radiofrequency ablation is a relatively new modality which has found use in a wide range of medical applications and gained acceptance. RF ablation has been used in destroying tumors in liver, prostate, breast, lung, kidney, bones, and the eye. One of the early applications in clinical setting was its use in treating supraventricular arrhythmias by selectively destroying cardiac tissue. Radiofrequency ablation has become established as the primary modality of transcatheter therapy for the treatment of symptomatic arrhythmias. Radiofrequency catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias were investigated using a finite-element based solution of bioheat transfer equation. Spatial and temporal temperature profiles in the cardiac tissue were visualized.