title: Towards patient-specific modelling of lesion formation during radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.
abstract: Radiofrequency catheter ablation procedures are a first-line method of clinical treatment for atrial fibrillation. However, they suffer from suboptimal success rates and are also prone to potentially serious adverse effects. These limitations can be at least partially attributed to the inter- and intra- patient variations in atrial wall thickness, and could be mitigated by patient-specific approaches to the procedure. In this study, a modelling approach to optimising ablation procedures in subject-specific 3D atrial geometries was applied. The approach enabled the evaluation of optimal ablation times to create lesions for a given wall thickness measured from MRI. A nonliner relationship was revealed between the thickness and catheter contact time required for fully transmural lesions. Hence, our approach based on MRI reconstruction of the atrial wall combined with subject-specific modelling of ablation can provide useful information for improving clinical procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom ( ross.r.morgan@kcl.ac.uk ; marta.varela@kcl.ac.uk ; oleg.aslanidi@kcl.ac.uk ; jeevansoor@googlemail.com ; phone: +44 (0) 20 7188 7188).
authors.forename: Navjeevan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Soor
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom ( ross.r.morgan@kcl.ac.uk ; marta.varela@kcl.ac.uk ; oleg.aslanidi@kcl.ac.uk ; jeevansoor@googlemail.com ; phone: +44 (0) 20 7188 7188).
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom ( ross.r.morgan@kcl.ac.uk ; marta.varela@kcl.ac.uk ; oleg.aslanidi@kcl.ac.uk ; jeevansoor@googlemail.com ; phone: +44 (0) 20 7188 7188).
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Varela
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom ( ross.r.morgan@kcl.ac.uk ; marta.varela@kcl.ac.uk ; oleg.aslanidi@kcl.ac.uk ; jeevansoor@googlemail.com ; phone: +44 (0) 20 7188 7188).
authors.forename: Oleg V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Aslanidi
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D066230:Patient-Specific Modeling; D016896:Treatment Outcome