一種高強度聚集超聲系統(tǒng)可以將消融設(shè)備放置在跳動的心臟外面，傳輸高強度聚集超聲能量穿過心臟壁進(jìn)行精確而徹底的心臟組織消融，用來治療心房纖維性顫動。

迄今為止，該系統(tǒng)成功治療的第一例患者是一位71歲的陣發(fā)性心房纖維性顫動合并冠心病男性患者。這種系統(tǒng)最初由Epicor醫(yī)療公司研發(fā)的，在2004年6月St.Jude醫(yī)療公司(St. Paul, MN, USA)獲得了該系統(tǒng)。St.Jude公司與華盛頓大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院James Cox醫(yī)生緊密合作，研發(fā)了自己的高強度聚集超聲消融系統(tǒng)以及相關(guān)的外科手術(shù)方案。Cox醫(yī)生是治療心房纖維性顫動的Cox-Maze外科手術(shù)方案的研發(fā)者。

在Cox-Maze方案中，在左心房組織中切除迷宮樣模式的組織，阻斷傳播心房纖維性顫動的途徑。該技術(shù)有效率達(dá)到90％，但是對患者而言屬于高度侵入性手術(shù)而且技術(shù)上富有挑戰(zhàn)性。而高強度聚集超聲系統(tǒng)允許醫(yī)生通過侵入性較小的途徑安全有效地制造簡化星迷宮損傷模式，無需將患者置于心肺旁路支持系統(tǒng)以及將患者心臟停止跳動。

Cox醫(yī)生說：“該技術(shù)不僅能夠提高心房纖維性顫動治療有效率，而且還能夠提高這種發(fā)病率極高的患者治愈數(shù)量。”

Cardiac Tissue Ablation with HIFU Energy
 
A high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system allows an ablation device to be placed on the outside of a beating heart and deliver HIFU energy across the wall of the heart to create precise and complete lines of cardiac tissue ablation to treat atrial fibrillation (AF).

In the first case to date, the system was successfully used to treat a 71-year-old male with paroxysmal AF and co-morbid coronary artery disease. The system was originally developed by Epicor Medical, which was acquired by St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, MN, USA) in June 2004. St. Jude has worked closely with Dr. James Cox, emeritus professor of surgery, Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO, USA) to develop its HIFU ablation system and the related surgical procedure. Dr. Cox is the developer of the Cox-Maze surgical procedure for the treatment of AF.

In the Cox-Maze procedure, maze-like patterns are cut in the left atrial tissue, blocking the pathways that propagate AF. The technique is nearly 90% effective but highly invasive for patients and technically challenging. The HIFU technology allows doctors to safely and effectively create a simplified maze lesion pattern through a less-invasive approach without placing patients on a cardiopulmonary bypass system and arresting their hearts.

“This technology has the potential not only to improve the cure rate for atrial fibrillation but also to increase the number of patients who can be treated for this widely prevalent disease,” commented Dr. Cox.