Surgical Cardiac Ablation devices: Numerical model study

Numerical Finite Element Method models were used to compare and contrast bipolar and monopolar RF electrode geometries used for open chest surgical Cardiac Ablation in a modified Maze procedure. The models included electrical, thermal and cardiac muscle damage fields with irreversible thermal alteration in the form of loss of native state birefringence in cardiac muscle as the standard of comparison. Kinetic rate coefficients for these models were: A = 2.94 × 10³⁹ (1/s) and E = 2.596 × 10⁵ (J/mole), from literature. Model results show the spatial development of thermal damage relative to the transient thermal field. Numerical methods may be used to compare and contrast transient temperature field histories and damage extent in the RF electrode design process.