Mitigating the risks associated with radio-frequency cardiac ablation

A cardiac arrhythmia is defined as an abnormal heartbeat which happens when the patients heart beats too fast, too slow, or in other irregular patterns. Although arrhythmia can occur without any symptoms, it is typically associated with heart palpitations, chest pains, fainting or heart failure. One type of treatment option is an interventional catheter-based procedure, which involves a technique called cardiac ablation. In such procedures, a catheter is advanced from the groin area into the heart. Once in place, radio-frequency energy is delivered through the catheter to a specific location with the goal of re-establishing proper heart conduction. These procedures introduce inherent patient risks including cardiac tamponade, transient ischemic attacks, stroke and death. The goal of this project is to develop a novel device to mitigate some of the risks associated with cardiac

Faculty Supervisor:

Eric Savory

Student:

Hamed Avari

Partner:

Baylis Medical Company

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Western University