Introduction-Lesion placement and transmurality are critical factors in the success of cardiac transcatheter radiofrequency ablation (RFA) treatments for supraventricular arrhythmias. This study investigated the capabilities of catheter transducer based acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) ultrasound imaging for quantifying ablation lesion dimensions.

Background Arrhythmia recurrence after cardiac radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for atrial fibrillation (AF) has been linked to conduction through discontinuous lesion lines. Intraprocedural visualization and corrective ablation of lesion line discontinuities could decrease post-procedure AF recurrence. Intracardiac acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging is a new imaging technique that visualizes RFA lesions by mapping the relative elasticity contrast between compliant-unablated and stiff-RFA treated myocardium. Objective To determine if intraprocedure ARFI images can identify RFA treated myocardium in vivo. Methods In eight canines, an electroanatomical mapping (EAM) guided intracardiac echo catheter (ICE) was used to acquire 2D ARFI images along right atrial ablation lines before and after RFA. ARFI images were acquired during diastole with the myocardium positioned at the ARFI focus (1.5 cm) and parallel to the ICE transducer for maximal and uniform energy delivery to the tissue. Three reviewers categorized each ARFI image as depicting no lesion, non-contiguous, or contiguous lesion. For comparison, three separate reviewers confirmed RFA lesion presence and contiguity based on functional conduction block at the imaging plane location on EAM activation maps. Results Ten percent of ARFI images were discarded due to motion artifacts. Reviewers of the ARFI images detected RFA-treated sites with high sensitivity (95.7%) and specificity (91.5%). Reviewer identification of contiguous lesion had 75.3% specificity and 47.1% sensitivity. Conclusions Intracardiac ARFI imaging was successful in identifying endocardial RFA treatment when specific imaging conditions were maintained. Further advances in ARFI imaging technology would facilitate a wider range of imaging opportunities for clinical lesion evaluation.

Peri‐Ablation Monitoring of RFA Lesion StiffnessIntroductionElastography imaging can provide radiofrequency ablation (RFA) lesion assessment due to tissue stiffening at the ablation site. An important aspect of assessment is the spatial and temporal stability of the region of stiffness increase in the peri‐ablation period. The aim of this study was to use 2 ultrasound‐based elastography techniques, shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) and acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging, to monitor the evolution of tissue stiffness at ablation sites in the 30 minutes following lesion creation.Methods and ResultsIn 6 canine subjects, SWEI measurements and 2‐D ARFI images were acquired at 6 ventricular endocardial RFA sites before, during, and for 30 minutes postablation. An immediate increase in tissue stiffness was detected during RFA, and the area of the postablation region of stiffness increase (RoSI) as well as the relative stiffness at the RoSI center was stable approximately 2 minutes after ablation. Of note is the observation that relative stiffness in the region adjacent to the RoSI increased slightly during the first 15 minutes, consistent with local fluid displacement or edema. The magnitude of this increase, ∼0.5‐fold from baseline, was significantly less than the magnitude of the stiffness increase directly inside the RoSI, which was greater than 3‐fold from baseline.ConclusionsUltrasound‐based SWEI and ARFI imaging detected an immediate increase in tissue stiffness during RFA, and the stability and magnitude of the stiffness change suggest that consistent elasticity‐based lesion assessment is possible 2 minutes after and for at least 30 minutes following ablation.

Background Visual confirmation of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) lesions during clinical cardiac ablation procedures could improve procedure efficacy, safety, and efficiency. It was previously shown that acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging can identify RFA lesions in vitro and in vivo in an animal model. This is the “first-in-human” feasibility demonstration of intracardiac ARFI imaging of RFA lesions in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial flutter (AFL) or atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods and Results Patients scheduled for right atrial (RA) ablation for AFL or left atrial (LA) ablation for drug refractory AF were eligible for imaging. Diastole-gated intracardiac ARFI images were acquired using one of two equipment configurations: (1) a Siemens ACUSON S2000™ ultrasound scanner and 8/10Fr AcuNav™ ultrasound catheter, or (2) a CARTO 3™ integrated Siemens SC2000™ and 10Fr SoundStar™ ultrasound catheter. A total of 11 patients (AFL = 3; AF = 8) were imaged. ARFI images were acquired of ablation target regions, including the RA cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI), and the LA roof, pulmonary vein ostia, posterior wall, posterior mitral valve annulus, and the ridge between the pulmonary vein and LA appendage. ARFI images revealed increased relative myocardial stiffness at ablation catheter contact sites after RFA and at anatomical mapping-tagged RFA treatment sites. Conclusions ARFI images from a pilot group of patients undergoing catheter ablation for AFL and AF demonstrate the ability of this technique to identify intra-procedure RFA lesion formation. The results encourage further refinement of ARFI imaging clinical tools and continued investigation in larger clinical trials.

Accurate displacement estimation can be a challenging task in acoustic radiation force elastography, where signal decorrelation can degrade the ability of a normalized cross-correlation (NCC) estimator to characterize the tissue response. In this work, we describe a Bayesian estimation scheme which models both signal decorrelation and thermal noise, and uses an edge-preserving, generalized Gaussian Markov random field prior. The performance of the estimator was evaluated in FEM simulations modeling the acoustic radiation force impulse response in a linearly-isotropic material. Bias, variance, and mean-square error were calculated over a range of estimator parameters, and compared to NCC. The results demonstrate that a significant reduction in mean-square error can be achieved with the proposed estimator. Finally, in vivo data of an radio-frequency ablation in a canine model are shown, demonstrating the in vivo feasibility of the proposed method.