Influence of Electrical Connections on Catheter Heating

Oliver Lips¹, Bernd David¹, Sascha Krueger¹, Kai-Michael Luedeke¹, Steffen Weiss¹

The dependence of catheter heating on the electrical connections is investigated. RF simulations and corresponding measurements analyze the effect of different impedances at various positions along the connections. Additionally, tip heating for several, realistic active tracking set-ups is measured employing catheters equipped with standard cables as well as transformer-cables. Using standard wires resonant heating was observed in several connecting conditions. Transformer cables do not show a relevant tip heating in any configuration. Thus, it is advisable to prevent RF heating inside the catheter in order to avoid any negative influence from the electrical connections.