Real-time monitoring of cardiac radio-frequency ablation lesion formation using an optical coherence tomography forward-imaging catheter Fleming Christine P. author Columbia University. Electrical Engineering Wang Hui author Quan Kara J. author Rollins Andrew M. author Columbia University. Electrical Engineering originator text Articles 2010 English Radio-frequency ablation (rfa) is the standard of care for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias; however, there are no direct measures of the successful delivery of ablation lesions. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging has the potential to provide real-time monitoring of cardiac rfa therapy, visualizing lesion formation and assessing tissue contact in the presence of blood. A rfa-compatible forward-imaging conical scanning probe is prototyped to meet this need. The forward-imaging probe provides circular scanning, with a 2-mm scan diameter and 30-μm spot size. During the application of rf energy, dynamics are recorded at 20framespersecond with a 40-kHz A-line rate. Real-time monitoring of cardiac rfa lesion formation and imaging in the presence of blood is demonstrated ex vivo in a swine left ventricle with a forward, flexible, circular scanning OCT catheter. Medical imaging and radiology Journal of Biomedical Optics 15 3 030516-1 030516-3 2010-05 http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.3459134 http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:15234 NNC NNC 2012-11-08 14:10:09 -0500 2012-11-08 14:23:10 -0500 9236 eng