Comparison of analytical estimations and actual intramyocardial temperature gradients during intramural radio-frequency ablation in-vivo

We studied the temperature gradient of radio-frequency energy delivered intra-murally in-vivo. The objective was to compare the measured temperatures obtained in living myocardium with analytical estimations of temperature gradients. Closed loop temperature control was implemented to achieve set temperatures of 70, 80, 90 and 100/spl deg/C at the delivering electrode. The analytic solution was found to closely follow the measured data. We conclude that the developed solution may be used to accurately predict temperature gradients and hence lesion size.