Developing a new, safer method to target ablation for arrhythmias

Enabling clinical translation of a novel activation-repolarisation time metric for improved identification of optimal catheter ablation sites

Dr Martin Bishop and his team at King’s College London are developing a new, safer method to help doctors identify areas of heart tissue that cause abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias, so they can receive more accurate ablation therapy. Patients suffering from arrhythmias often have catheter ablation therapy to try and control or correct the heart rhythms. The affected areas of heart tissue are ‘ablated’ using high-energy probes. These interrupt the electrical pathways that cause the arrhythmia. But it is often difficult or impossible for doctors to locate the specific place to target with these probes. In this project, Dr Bishop and his colleagues aim to develop a new and safer way of mapping the electrical functioning of the heart during these procedures, to better identify the tissue regions that drive these arrhythmias and which require ablation. They have developed a new type of measurement for identifying these targets. It has already shown promise in early tests, but he will now refine, optimise and test this new method in patients. They will carry out a detailed study in thirty people receiving ablations to better understand how their new method behaves in different patients’ hearts and how to optimise the way it is applied. This research could lead to a larger clinical trial of this method that, if successful, could allow doctors to carry out catheter ablation procedures more safely and with a better chance of success.