Cryogenics research yields possible cure for arrhythmia

A U.S. clinical study is just getting under way that, if successful, could lead to a non-surgical “cure” for the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia. The study is evaluating a new type of cryogenic catheter co-developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The catheter system, which is being commercialized by CryoCor of San Diego, Calif., is designed to selectively freeze cardiac tissue in order to block the abnormal electrical signals that cause arrhythmia, thereby returning the heart to its normal rhythm. On June 29 the company announced Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for clinical trials to evaluate the system’s safety and efficacy in treating atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm that affects about 2.3 million Americans and increases the risk of stroke and death. Clinical trials are already under way to treat atrial flutter, or rapid heart rate.

International clinical trials had a 98 percent overall treatment success rate, and the company has approval to sell the system in Europe. The technology offers a potential cure for arrhythmia, whereas current treatments, including drug therapy and implantable devices such as pacemakers, are management strategies.

The system consists of a catheter about 3 mm in diameter, a sheath for introducing the catheter into pulmonary veins, and a console for controlling the temperature of refrigerant inside the catheter and thus the size of the tissue area to be frozen. Inside the heart, the catheter can achieve temperatures below minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit).

Media Contact

Laura Ost EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.nist.gov

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors