Siemens and Biosense Webster partner for arrhythmia research

Siemens Medical Solutions has teamed with Biosense Webster to create three-dimensional (3D) images of the heart as a diagnostic and interventional tool for electrophysiologists.

Siemens says the pair's goal is to combine technologies and create accurate images that will serve as roadmaps for procedures used to identify and treat cardiac arrhythmias.

To create the images, the research team will combine electroanatomical mapping data from Biosense Webster's Carto XP EP Navigation and Ablation System with pre-procedural anatomical cardiac images provided by Siemens' magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) technologies.

Electroanatomical mapping traces the movement of electrical signals through the heart. With the Carto XP system, sensors located at the tip of specially designed catheters acquire data at various points within the heart to pinpoint the locations of arrhythmias.

In the future, researchers will also use the Axiom Artis dFC Magnetic Navigation System which integrates Siemens' digital fluoroscopic imaging system -- the Axiom Artis dFC (Flat Panel Detector System) -- with the Niobe Magnetic Navigation System from Stereotaxis Inc. This combination will allow direct magnetic steering of catheter- and guidewire-based devices along complex paths within the heart and coronary vasculature.

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