Cardiac Ablation

The cardiac electrical activity is produced and controlled by the Sinoatrial (SA) node in the right atrium and the Atrioventricular (AV) node in the interatrial septum. The electrical signals move through the cardiac conduction system fibres causing the atria and ventricles to contract and relax regularly between 60-100 bpm [1].when those electrical signals are interrupted as a result of a damage in the conduction system, the heart rate would become irregular or would either increase resulting in Tachycardia condition or decrease resulting in Bradycardia [2] as shown in fiqure[1].This condition of irregular heartbeats is medically referred as Arrhythmias [1].Examples of arrhythmias conditions include AV Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia, Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Flutter[3].
Arrhythmias is usually treated by medication but in case it is not effectively treated by medication or the patient lie under a high risk of atrial or ventricular fibrillation, then a cardiac ablation procedure is performed [4].
It is performed by inserting catheters through a vein in the groin, arm or neck, which are guided into the heart by x-ray imaging [4].These catheters convey diagnostic (mapping) electrodes to perform an electrophysiology study test (EPS) that stimulate and measure the cardiac electrical activity in order to determine the abnormal tissue before the ablation is performed [5] as shown in Figure[1].After the diseased cardiac tissue is located, it is then destroyed by one of three main techniques