In-vivo demonstration of irrigated lesion morphology using near-infrared spectroscopy and artificial neural networks

Radiofrequency ablation is the most common procedure to treat cardiac arrythmias, such as atrial fibrillation. Catheter ablation isolates or eradicates abnormal electrical activity to maintain sinus rhythm. However, inadequate lesion formation permits arrhythmia resurgence. Optical spectroscopic signatures can detect biomolecular and tissue structural changes and can potentially serve as a tool to evaluate lesion quality. In this work, we introduce a near-infrared spectroscopy through fiber-optic integrated catheter to assess contact and predict lesion size using artificial neural network model on both ex-vivo porcine model and non-survival in-vivo pilot experiments in pigs.