Comparison of High-Frequency Ablation and Convectional-Infrared Coagulation Usage in the Treatment of Arrhythmias During Opened-Heart Surgery

Heart rhythm disturbances are a frequent pathology of the cardiovascular system. They increase the risk of ventricular fibrillation and heart attack. Today, the most effective method of radical arrhythmia treatment is high-frequency ablation (HFA). However, the use of electric current energy for thermal damage to myocardium tissue has a disadvantage of using contact electrodes, for which the sterilization is not possible and there is a risk of harmful effects on adjacent anatomical structures. In this article a comparison is made for an alternative non-contact method - convectional-infrared coagulation (CIC). Based on the laws of bioheat transfer, resistive and convectional heating mathematical models of HFA and CIC that use anatomically correct 3d model of heart were developed. An experiment was performed on the pig's heart. Based on the results of mathematical modeling and experiment, it is shown that convectional-infrared coagulation has a prospect of using for ablation on the open heart if the depth of thermal destruction will be increased.