CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acutus Medical (Nasdaq: AFIB), an arrhythmia management company focused on improving the way cardiac arrhythmias are diagnosed and treated, today announced the launch of the AcQBlate® Force Sensing Ablation System in Europe after securing CE Mark for the company’s AcQBlate FORCE ablation catheter and the Qubic Force Sensing Module (Qubic Force). The AcQBlate Force Sensing Ablation System, which incorporates the first and only commercially available gold-tipped, irrigated, force-sensing radiofrequency ablation catheter on the market (AcQBlate Force®), also integrates two state-of-the-art components made available through Acutus Medical’s international alliance with BIOTRONIK:
the Qubic Radiofrequency Generator (Qubic RF)
the Qiona Irrigation Pump
When combined with AcQMap®, Acutus’ proven ultra-high resolution, 3D cardiac imaging and mapping system, the AcQBlate Force Sensing Ablation System represents a complete and highly differentiated solution for the electrophysiologic (EP) mapping and RF ablation of cardiac arrhythmias.
Designed specifically to provide innovative therapeutic solutions during cardiac ablation procedures, AcQBlate FORCE shows physicians, in real time, how much contact is being applied to the heart during ablation procedures. Studies have shown the utility of real-time contact force information in helping physicians guide safe and effective therapy, which may improve patient outcomes1. AcQBlate FORCE also uses an innovative single optical fiber-based force sensor in an isolated tip with active temperature compensation that results in accurate and reliable contact force measurements at all contact angles during an ablation procedure.
“It is important that physicians know how much force is being applied to the wall of the heart during ablation procedures,” said Dr. Tamas Szili-Torok of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “AcQBlate FORCE is a unique and differentiated product that will easily surpass expectations in providing a therapeutic solution. The AcQBlate FORCE catheter combines the benefits of optical force sensing technology, a gold ablation electrode, and a novel irrigation design to enable effective lesion formation at lower irrigation rates.”
In addition to contact force sensing technology, the AcQBlate FORCE gold-tip technology may improve workflow efficiency through greater thermal conductivity compared to conventional platinum-iridium electrodes. This superior thermal property results in more efficient energy delivery and decreased tip temperature at half the irrigation rates of conventional force sensing catheters. Gold-tip catheters can create the same lesion characteristics in less time compared to platinum-iridium tips.2,3