Determination of burn depth in the ablation of atrial fibrillation using an open-ended coaxial probe

Monitoring burn depth in heart tissue during the ablation of atrial fibrillation will be a real challenge in coming years. Little is known about the influence of burning on the dielectric properties of tissue even though it will be of major interest in terms of characterization in medicine. In this study, the microwave characterization of biological tissues immersed in a liquid medium was carried out through an open-ended coaxial probe placed directly against each sample and a frequency range from 1 GHz to 6 GHz was used. The evolution of the relative variation of the reflection coefficient correlated with the depth of burned tissues. Bovine muscle and pig hearts were used for the experiments. The results were similar for both tissues. Monitoring the depth of burned tissue during ablation procedures could be a step forward to improve efficacy. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.