Modifying Ventricular Fibrillation by Targeted Rotor Substrate Ablation: Proof-of-Concept from Experimental Studies to Clinical VF.

Introduction: Recent work has suggested a role for organized sources in sustaining ventricular fibrillation (VF). We assessed whether ablation of rotor substrate could modulate VF inducibility in canines, and used this proof-of-concept as a foundation to suppress antiarrhythmic drug-refractory clinical VF in a patient with structural heart disease.

Methods And Results: In 9 dogs, we introduced 64-electrode basket catheters into one or both ventricles, used rapid pacing at a recorded induction threshold to initiate VF, and then defibrillated after 18±8 seconds.

A flexible, conformal ultrasound array for medical imaging.

An ultrasound imaging system is under development that features a flexible transducer that can be wrapped conformally around curved surfaces of the body. The device is intended to deliver high image quality without the need for mechanical scanning, and will benefit medical personnel with limited ultrasound training. A 2 x 8 element piezoelectric transducer prototype and 15.