Modeling ablation on the endocardium and temperature distribution during RF ablation

A three-dimensional finite element model for endocardial radiofrequency ablation is presented. During ablation process it is very important to calculate generated temperature field. This field is formed around electrode, in the contact point with the heart muscle. We investigated generated temperature field and temperature distribution across the heart for three cases: 1) when blood flow through the coronary artery is regular, 2) when blood flow through the coronary artery is equal zero, and 3) when there is no blood in the coronary artery (the air was modeled). Beside that there are many parameters which have to be determined: dimensions of lesions (wounds, by heat affected and destroyed area), effect of blood flow on forming temperature field (either through coronary artery or heart), use of saline [1] and its layer thickness, used voltage on electrode, contact width between electrode and heart, etc. Effects of parameters, such as blood flow rate and applied power (voltage on the electrode) are investigated. It is shown that the blood flow in the coronary artery does not have significant influence on the temperature distribution. Also, temperature of range 50°-100 C for applied constant voltage of 15 V is a good choice.