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Laser ablation with a Vimecon-System

The Vimecon laser catheters allow you to carry out circular (PVI), point-shaped or line-shaped (LASM) ablations. The catheter can be flexed (animation) and its size (animation) can be adapted at the tip.

The very thin catheters (10F) are extremely flexible and offer optimum handling.

The Vimecon laser catheters as compared to conventional ablation methods, reduce operating procedure times significantly. Therefore, the costs of treating atrial fibrillation are reduced and a better utilization is guaranteed.

The catheter ablation works by the targeted build-up of scar tissue. The laser energy produces this scar tissue by heat application when the laser light is transformed into heat. This happens preferably at boundary areas and colorants, i.e. in the heart this is the haemoglobin of the blood cells and the myoglobin of the muscle cells. However, in the tissue there is no cooling effect of the bloodstream, which means that only there the required temperature for ablation arises.

Vimecon has developed a unique technique to extract laser light extremely precisely from a thin optic fibre. Therefore, in principle, the energy emission is not limited by the construction and size of the catheter, which means that possibilities for further miniaturization and development of the ablation technology are almost unlimited.

At the catheter tip the light is emitted evenly from the catheter and radiated into the tissue. If parts of the catheter are not in contact with the tissue, the laser light is able to bridge a certain distance in the bloodstream without causing any blood clots. In the tissue the maximum temperature is generated just below the tissue surface so that the endothelium is protected and blood clot build-up is minimized. The insertion depth can be controlled by adapting the ablation time as well as the freely adjustable power setting.

This way it is possible to work in sensitive areas, such as on the rear wall of the left atrium near the esophagus, using a lower laser power setting.