Endosense is beginning to establish itself in the tough market of atrial fibrillation with a catheter that stresses an attribute that no one has featured yet: force sensing in delivering energy. Proving the clinical value of force-sensing will be difficult enough, but Endosense faced an even greater challenge in 2009 when its long-time backer, 3i, decided it wanted to exit device venture investing and divest its stake in the company.

Endosense is beginning to establish itself in the tough market of atrial fibrillation with a catheter that stresses an attribute that no one has featured yet: force sensing in delivering energy. Proving the clinical value of force-sensing will be difficult enough, but Endosense faced an even greater challenge in 2009 when its long-time backer, 3i, decided it wanted to exit device venture investing and divest its stake in the company.

For more than 20 years, cardiac ablation catheter development has focused on two major areas: three-dimensional mapping systems to determine a specific patient's heart dimensions to help map arrhythmias and guide catheters, and mechanisms for catheter positioning and steerability. Little attention has been devoted to ablation lesion success and safety assessment. Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Inc. aims to fill this gap with its intelligent, in-tissue, temperature-sensing irrigated ablation catheter. The device features a chip-based radiometry system to provide physicians with real-time in-tissue temperature when performing irrigated cardiac ablations.