In 1991, there were 500 catheter procedures in the United States to correct problems with arrhythmias. By 1993, that number had grown to 15,000 and the usage of the procedure has experienced exponential growth since that time. Cardiac mapping is used to find spots of unusual electrical activity in people with heart palpitations or those with irregular heartbeats resulting from previous heart attacks.
Physicians then ablate, or burn, the suspicious area to stop the irregular rhythm.
Cardiac ablation procedures help patients whose arrhythmias are not controlled by medication or those with acute episodes of dangerous heart rhythms. Older systems also mapped fewer points overall and occasionally missed problematic locations. The new system records multiple points in parallel, significantly speeding up the mapping process. Ultimately, patients benefit from a system that plots more points faster. With the new mapping system, rhythms that previously have been very difficult to ablate may be more amenable to catheter therapy.