Preclinical assessment of a novel ablation catheter specific to robotic magnetic navigation.

BACKGROUND: A novel catheter (Magbot) is needed to enable seamless integration with robotic magnetic navigation systems and third-party mapping platforms. OBJECTIVE: The goals of this study were to assess the contact force (CF) and lesion characteristics of the Magbot catheter under robotic magnetic navigation guidance and to compare these parameters with those of the RMT catheter solely for the CARTO system. METHODS: A total of 1200 CF measurements were collected for both the Magbot and RMT catheters when spanning different vector orientations, and catheter extensions were obtained in a simulation study. Subsequently, radiofrequency energy was delivered to an ex vivo porcine heart to create ablation lesions using 3 power settings: 30 W for 30 seconds, 40 W for 20 seconds, and 50 W for 15 seconds. RESULTS: CF values were highly dependent on both vector orientation and catheter extension. The Magbot catheter consistently yielded more favorable CF values across all anatomical configurations than did the RMT catheter. While no statistically significant difference in lesion size was observed between the 2 catheters across all tested energy settings, a consistent trend favoring the Magbot catheter was noted. Moreover, high-power ablation (50 W/15 seconds) generated lesions characterized by a significant increase in superficial width but a concomitant reduction in depth and overall volume. Notably, compared with the Magbot catheter, the RMT catheter was associated with a significantly higher incidence of steam pops, with risk escalating sharply at higher power levels. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that the Magbot catheter not only matched the RMT catheter in core lesion formation efficacy but also offered distinct advantages in terms of CF stability and safety profile.