4 research outputs found
Hearts Ablaze: Radio Frequency Ablation as Treatment for Cardiac Arrythmia
This project analyzes several of the parameters involved in the use of radiofrequency
ablation (RFA) in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia. Arrhythmia is an irregular beating
of the heart that can be caused by improperly timed contractions within the heart, which
can, in certain circumstances, be corrected by ablating tissue. One out of every five
hundred people is born with an arrhythmia and others acquire the condition through heart
disease. For heart attack victims, it is the most common cause of sudden death. RFA is a
common way to treat serious arrhythmia cases by cutting the short circuit through the
destruction of certain tissues. We used finite element analysis along with prototyping
software to determine the duration of treatment, with special attention to the damage
caused to surrounding tissue. We found that the optimal parameters for most effective
treatment were to administer 30V for 120 seconds ? which happens to be the standard
method of operation. This destroys the necessary part of the AV node while maintaining
the surrounding tissue at relatively normal temperatures