Jonathan M. Kalman, Jeffrey E.
Olgin*, Martin R. Karch**; Michael D. Lesh**.
Department of Cardiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, Section
of Cardiac Electrophysiology,
*Krannert Research Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana,
**Department of Medicine and Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California,
San Francisco, USA
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At present, clinically available imaging systems are
limited to mechanical systems with a single rotating transducer. The catheter which has
had the widest clinical application until recently is a 10F, 10 MHz imaging catheter with
an over-the-wire design for deployment. This allows a radial (360 degree) field of view of
approximately 4 cm. More recently a 9F, 9MHz imaging catheter has been developed (Boston
Scientific Corp.). These catheters provide improved depth penetration and improved
resolution. A smaller 6F, 12.5 MHz catheter which may be deployed via a long vascular
sheath has also been used for intracardiac imaging1,2.
Nevertheless, further advances in image quality, depth penetration and catheter
steerability are required.
Such advances may require the development of phased array imaging systems.
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