New technique in heart disease treatment

NEWMARKET, Ontario, May 26 (UPI) -- An Ontario hospital says it's the first in North America to use a revolutionary system to aid doctors treating a potentially life-threatening heart condition.

Southlake Regional Health Center in Newmarket said the technology makes it easier to connect with human tissue when guiding catheters into the heart to perform cardiac ablations -- or tissue burning -- a common treatment for severe arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), a release said Thursday.

The technology uses software to take precise electrical measurements at the tip of a cardiac catheter, providing a more precise measurement of the amount of pressure being applied when tip-to-tissue contact is made.

The system gives cardiac specialists both a numerical readout and a visual display on a monitor providing a three-dimensional image of the heart to help guide the catheter.

"There are a lot of points where you encounter resistance on the catheter due to buildup of deposits in the arteries and it can be difficult to gauge how hard to push," Southlake electrophysiologist Dr. Atul Verma said.

"The addition of this technology makes cardiac ablation a safer and more effective procedure," he said.