Computer-controlled catheter navigation system begins clinical trials

A magnetic navigation system that uses computer-controlled magnetic fields to guide a catheter within the heart was successfully tested on a 40-year-old female patient last Monday, according to Stereotaxis of St. Louis, which developed the system. Doctors performed the procedure at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

The system is approved by the FDA for use in clinical trials, according to Stereotaxis. The technology combines computer-controlled magnets with an X-ray fluoroscope. This combination of systems permits the magnetic navigation system, under the guidance of a physician, to steer the catheter, via the distal tip, to various locations within the heart.

The goal of the first heart mapping trial, which will include 20 patients in St. Louis and at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, is to apply the technology to find the source of complex cardiac arrhythmias. The trial will be completed in September.

A second clinical trial to be conducted at Washington University will use a magnetically controlled guidewire to navigate within blood vessels of the brain. Researchers hope the technology can be expanded to other types of interventional procedures.

By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
January 26, 2001

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