FDA Clears Abbott’s TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled

Abbott received FDA approval for its innovative TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled.

The device, cleared in Europe a couple of years ago, is used to ablate cardiac tissue as part of treatment for atrial fibrillation. It features a pressure sensor that provides feedback on the contact force applied to cardiac tissue, helping to make sure that an appropriate amount of ablation takes place. Coupled with the company’s EnSite Precision cardiac mapping system, the tip of the catheter can be guided to target lesions while having a live map of the relevant anatomy, including its electrical activity, and the catheter’s location within it.

A magnetic sensor is used to locate the catheter’s position within the heart and while the ablation is performed, the system constantly monitors to make sure the appropriate energy is delivered and only when the tip is in contact with cardiac tissue.

The device was designed to be able to reach through relatively difficult anatomy, and having a 1:1 transfer of torque from the handle to the tip allows for precise and careful positioning of the distal end at the treatment site. “Cardiac ablation has become a front-line therapy in the fight against conditions like atrial fibrillation in part because of improvements to the technology available today,” in a published statement said Roger Winkle, M.D., an electrophysiologist at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, California. “The Abbott TactiCath SE ablation catheter represents one of those major improvements, and offers an incredibly powerful, yet easy to use, combination of advanced technologies to improve ablation procedures.”