Difference in lesion characteristics between catheters
In our study, the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter produced
smaller lesions than the TactiCathTM SE catheter,
especially for perpendicular catheter placement (Figure 3A). A higher
rate of temperature control in the FlexAbilityTM SE
catheter, resulting in a lower average power, can partially explain this
finding. However, lesion size was smaller with the
FlexAbilityTM SE catheter with perpendicular catheter
placement even at a 20W setting, in which temperature control was not
observed. Another possible explanation is that the
FlexAbilityTM SE catheter has a larger tip size of 8Fr
4mm, compared to 8Fr 3.5mm for the TactiCathTM SE
catheter. In general, the current density of a larger tip catheter is
lower for the same power setting, and therefore the current density of
the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter should be lower,
resulting in smaller lesion creation under the same power settings (5).
Additionally, FlexabilityTM SE has more efficient
cooling effect than TactiCathTM SE due to differences
in irrigation profile.