A new way to treat arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation (AF) — the most common cardiac arrhythmia diagnosis in clinical practice — has debuted at UC San Diego Health. vMap is a non-invasive computer mapping system that produces an interactive three-dimensional map of arrhythmia hotspots anywhere in the heart, including the organ’s four chambers, septal wall, and outflow tracts. The system, which maps in minutes, only requires data from a standard 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) to operate.

AF is an irregular and often rapid heartbeat that can cause stroke and heart failure. It affects more than six million Americans, resulting in more than 41,000 deaths per year. The standard of care for treating the disease is ablation, in which small, steerable catheters are inserted into the heart to burn or freeze specific areas responsible for the electrical signals causing the abnormal heart rhythm.

But where are these specific areas located? Traditional arrhythmia mapping techniques are labor intensive and time consuming, and physicians can only achieve complete success in a limited number of ablation procedures due to lack of information about the locations of arrhythmia sources. AF recurs after catheter ablation in 20-40% of cases, depending on the Atrial Fibrillation Diary.

Existing invasive mapping has limitations in terms of speed, efficiency and safety, and existing non-invasive mapping requires additional steps, such as magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography, and cannot map the entire cardiac organ. To shorten procedure times and improve ablation success, electrophysiologists must be able to quickly and accurately visualize arrhythmia hotspots in the heart.

“My team and I have experienced firsthand the limitations of the current standard of care for understanding and treating arrhythmias. said David Krummen, MD, cardiac electrophysiologist at UC San Diego Health and professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, who co-invented vMap and serves as a clinical advisor to Vektor Medical, its maker.

David Krummen, MD, cardiac electrophysiologist at UC San Diego Health and professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, is a co-inventor of vMap.

“We designed vMap to improve ablation results by quickly providing the physician with information about arrhythmia sources. We want this technology to increase the success of first-pass ablation, decrease procedural risk, and improve the management of patients with abnormal heart rhythms.

vMap – which received Food and Drug Administration clearance in November 2021 – converts ECG data into 2D and 3D arrhythmia source maps using data drawn from millions of arrhythmia simulations performed by technology resources , including the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego. The results of vMap’s first clinical study will be released later this year.

vMap is now available to assist UC San Diego Health physicians and electrophysiologists with arrhythmia analysis and mapping. To learn more about vMap, please consult your doctor.

Disclosure: David Krummen, MD, cardiac electrophysiologist at UC San Diego Health and professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, co-invented vMap and serves as a clinical advisor to its manufacturer, Vektor Medical, which he co-founded.