Opt Lett. 2018 Apr 15;43(8):1886-1889. doi: 10.1364/OL.43.001886.
Radio frequency (RF) catheter ablation is commonly used to eliminate dysfunctional cardiac tissue by heating via an alternating current. Clinical outcomes are highly dependent on careful anatomical guidance, electrophysiological mapping, and careful RF power titration during the procedure. Yet, current treatments rely mainly on the expertise of the surgeon to assess lesion formation, causing large variabilities in the success rate. We present an integrated catheter design suitable for simultaneous RF ablation and real-time optoacoustic monitoring of the forming lesion. The catheter design utilizes copper-coated multimode light guides capable of delivering both ablation current and near-infrared pulsed-laser illumination to the target tissue. The generated optoacoustic responses were used to visualize the ablation lesion formation in an ex-vivo bovine heart specimen in 3D. The presented catheter design enables the monitoring of ablation lesions with high spatiotemporal resolution while the overall therapy-monitoring approach remains compatible with commercially available catheter designs.
射频（RF）导管消融术通常通过交流电加热来消除功能失调的心脏组织。临床结果高度依赖于手术过程中的仔细解剖指导、电生理标测和仔细的 RF 功率滴定。然而，目前的治疗方法主要依赖于外科医生的专业知识来评估病变的形成，这导致成功率存在很大的差异。我们提出了一种集成的导管设计，适用于同时进行 RF 消融和实时光声监测形成的病变。该导管设计利用镀铜多模光纤导光管，能够将消融电流和近红外脉冲激光照射到目标组织。所产生的光声响应用于在离体牛心标本中进行 3D 可视化消融病变形成。所提出的导管设计能够以高时空分辨率监测消融病变，而整体治疗监测方法仍然与市售的导管设计兼容。
