Ablation analysis and catheter spatial stability
Our group had recently described a method for precise analysis of catheter-tip spatial stability, utilizing custom developed MATLAB script applied on X-Y-Z axis tip position data acquired at 60Hz8. Briefly, ablation data was extracted from CARTO® and analyzed using custom MATLAB script (Mathworks, USA). For each ablation lesion, the mean 3-dimensional (3-D) catheter position was calculated, and catheter excursion was defined as the distance between the position of the catheter tip, sampled at 60Hz, to the mean 3-D catheter position for the lesion. The mean and maximal catheter excursion were then calculated for each lesion (see Figure 1). Contact force variability was defined as the standard deviation of the contact force for the lesion.