Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s Biosense Webster division is rolling out a new version of its heart-mapping system that the company says marks its first to employ artificial intelligence capabilities.
The latest Carto 3 platform taps machine learning algorithms to help build three-dimensional models of the heart’s anatomy, charting out the structure of the left atrium to help guide surgeons through cardiac ablation and treat abnormal rhythms such as atrial fibrillation.
The new Cartosound FAM software module, cleared by the FDA, relies on an intracardiac ultrasound catheter to automatically generate images of the anatomy during its insertion procedure.
Biosense Webster also added the Elevate module, which incorporates electrophysiology features such as the automatic tracking of arrhythmias before and after delivering ablation, and the ability to reproducibly identify critical areas of the heart during the diagnosis of a condition.
The system—now in its eighth iteration since its 2009 debut—also continues to provide location tracking of magnetically equipped instruments, while illustrating the course of the body’s electric signals that sync the beating cardiac muscle.
“The Carto 3 System has been the cornerstone of catheter ablation procedures for more than a decade, helping electrophysiologists make treatment decisions,” Biosense Webster President Jasmina Brooks said in a statement. “This new version advances the Carto 3 mapping and ablation experience through enhanced signal analysis, improved substrate characterization, and utilization of ultrasound technology.”
J&J has also been pairing up Carto 3 with its Varipulse pulsed field ablation system. Earlier this year, the company put forward clinical data showing the integrated approach could complete an ablation procedure with less than eight minutes of X-ray fluoroscopy.