Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Materials for multifunctional balloon catheters with capabilities in cardiac electrophysiological mapping and ablation therapy

Nature Materials volume 10, pages 316–323 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Developing advanced surgical tools for minimally invasive procedures represents an activity of central importance to improving human health. A key challenge is in establishing biocompatible interfaces between the classes of semiconductor device and sensor technologies that might be most useful in this context and the soft, curvilinear surfaces of the body. This paper describes a solution based on materials that integrate directly with the thin elastic membranes of otherwise conventional balloon catheters, to provide diverse, multimodal functionality suitable for clinical use. As examples, we present sensors for measuring temperature, flow, tactile, optical and electrophysiological data, together with radiofrequency electrodes for controlled, local ablation of tissue. Use of such ‘instrumented’ balloon catheters in live animal models illustrates their operation, as well as their specific utility in cardiac ablation therapy. The same concepts can be applied to other substrates of interest, such as surgical gloves.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Multifunctional inflatable balloon catheters.
Figure 2: Fabrication, characterization and analysis of tactile and temperature sensors and RF ablation electrodes for multifunctional balloon-catheter devices.
Figure 3: In vivo epicardial recordings of cardiac electrophysiological, tactile and temperature data, and RF ablation in a rabbit heart.
Figure 4: In-vivo epicardial mapping of electrophysiology using an instrumented surgical glove during ischaemic injury.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mueller, R. & Sanborn, T. The history of interventional cardiology. Am. Heart J. 129, 146–172 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Myler, R. & Stertzer, S. Textbook of Interventional Cardiology Ch. 21 (WB Saunders, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rich, S., Dodin, E. & McLaughlin, V. V. Usefulness of atrial septostomy as a treatment for primary pulmonary hypertension and guidelines for its application. Am. J. Cardiol. 80, 369–371 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rothman, A. et al. Graded balloon dilation atrial septostomy as a bridge to lung transplantation in pulmonary hypertension. Am. Heart J. 125, 1763–1766 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Aliot, E. M. et al. Expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation: Recommendations for personnel, policy, procedures and follow-up, a report of the heart rhythm society (HRS) task force on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation. Europace 9, 335–379 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Calkins, H. et al. Treatment of atrial fibrillation with antiarrhythmic drugs for radio frequency ablation: Two systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses. Circ. Arrhythmia Electrophysiol. 2, 349–361 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Dewire, J. & Calkins, H. State-of-the-art and emerging technologies for atrial fibrillation ablation. Nature Rev. Cardiol. 7, 129–138 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Chun, K. R. et al. The ‘single big cryoballoon’ technique for acute pulmonary vein isolation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: A prospective observational single centre study. Euro. Heart J. 30, 699–709 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Chun, K. R. et al. Cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation with real time recordings from the pulmonary veins. J. Cardiovasc. Electrophysiol. 30, 699–709 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Satake, S. et al. Usefulness of a new radiofrequency thermal balloon catheter for pulmonary vein isolation: A new device for treatment of atrial fibrillation. J. Cardiovasc. Electrophysiol. 14, 609–615 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Schmidt, B. et al. Pulmonary vein isolation by high intensity focused ultrasound: First in-man study with a steerable balloon catheter. Heart Rhythm. 4, 575–584 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Reddy, V. Y. et al. Visually-guided balloon catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation: Experimental feasibility and first in-human multicenter clinical outcome. Circulation 120, 12–20 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Reddy, V. Y. et al. Balloon catheter ablation to treat paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: What is the level of venous isolation? Heart Rhythm. 5, 353–360 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Mansour, M. et al. Initial experience with the Mesh catheter for pulmonary vein isolation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Heart Rhythm. 5, 1510–1516 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Meissner, A. et al. First experiences for pulmonary vein isolation with the high density mesh ablator (HDMA): A novel mesh electrode catheter for both mapping and radiofrequency delivery in a single unit. J. Cardiovasc. Electrophysiol. 20, 359–366 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lau, M. et al. A theoretical and experimental analysis of radiofrequency ablation with a multielectrode, phased, duty-cycled system. PACE 33, 1089–1100 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Di Biase, L. et al. Relationship between catheter forces, lesions, characteristics, popping and char formation: Experience with robotic navigation system. J. Cardiovasc. Electrophysiol. 20, 436–440 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kim, D-H. et al. Materials and noncoplanar mesh designs for integrated circuits with linear elastic responses to extreme mechanical deformations. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 18675–18680 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Viventi, J. et al. A Conformal, bio-interfaced class of silicon electronics for mapping cardiac electrophysiology. Sci. Translational Med. 2, 24ra22 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kim, R-H. et al. Waterproof AlInGaP optoelectronics on stretchable substrates with applications in biomedicine and robotics. Nature Mater. 9, 929–937 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Mathura, A. B., Collinswortha, A. M., Reicherta, W. M., Krausb, W. E. & Truskey, G. A. Endothelial, cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle exhibit different viscous and elastic properties as determined by atomic force microscopy. J. Biomechanics. 34, 1545–1553 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Lee, M. H. & Nicholls, H. R. Tactile sensing for mechatronics—a state of the art survey. Mechatronics 9, 1–31 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Dargahi, J., Parameswaran, M. & Payandeh, S. A micromachined piezoelectric tactile sensor for an endoscopic grasper—theory, fabrication and experiments. J. Microelectromech. Syst. 9, 329–335 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Engel, J., Chen, J. & Liu, C. Development of polyimide flexible tactile sensor skin. J. Micromech. Microeng. 13, 359–366 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Someya, T. et al. A large-area, flexible pressure sensor matrix with organic field-effect transistors for artificial skin applications. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 9966–9970 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Takei, K. et al. Nanowire active-matrix circuitry for low-voltage macroscale artificial skin. Nature Mater. 9, 821–826 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Kim, D-H. et al. Optimized structural designs for stretchable silicon integrated circuits. Small 5, 2841–2847 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Sun, J-Y. et al. Inorganic islands on a highly stretchable polyimide substrate. J. Mater. Res. 24, 3338–3342 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Berjano, E. J. Theoretical modelling for radiofrequency ablation: State-of-the-art and challenges for the future. Biomed. Eng. Online 5, 24 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Plonsey, R. & Heppner, D. B. Considerations of quasi-stationarity in electrophysiological systems. Bul. Math. Biophys. 29, 657–664 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Huang, L. & Liu, L. Simultaneous determination of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of food and agricultural materials using a transient plane-source method. J. Food Eng. 95, 179–185 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Zell, M., Lyng, J. G., Cronin, D. A. & Morgan, D. J. Ohmic heating of meats: Electrical conductivities of whole meats and processed meat ingredients. Meat. Sci. 83, 563–570 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Erez, A. & Shitzer, A. Controlled destruction and temperature distribution in biological tissues subjected to monoactive electrocoagulation. J. Biomed. Eng. 102, 42–49 (1980).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Jiang, G. & Zhou, D. D. in Implantable Neural Prostheses 2, Biological and Medical Physics (eds Zhou, D. D. & Greenbaum, E.) Ch. 2, 27–61 (Springer, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Machi, E. et al. High density epicardial mapping during current injection and ventricular activation in rat hearts. Am. J. Heart Circ. Physiol. 275, H1886–H1897 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Bélanger, M. C. & Marois, Y. Hemocompatibility, biocompatibility, inflammatory and in vivo studies of primary reference materials low-density polyethylene and polydimethylsiloxane: A review. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 58, 467–477 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Richardson, R. R. Jr, Miller, J. A. & Reichert, W. M. Polyimides as biomaterials: Preliminary biocompatibility testing. Biomaterials 14, 627–635 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Wit, A. L. & Janse, M. J. Experimental models of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation caused by ischemia and infarction. Circulation 85, I-32-I-42 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  39. Shin, M. K. et al. Elastomeric conductive composites based on carbon nanotube forests. Adv. Mater. 22, 2663–2667 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank K. Dowling for help in high-resolution imaging and analysis of devices. We thank B. Dehdashti and members of the Sarver Heart Center for help in preparing the animals for in vivo studies. We thank S. Laferriere and the Massachusetts General Hospital Electrophysiology Laboratory for help with X-ray imaging in animals. This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant DMI-0328162 and the US Department of Energy, Division of Materials Sciences, under award DE-FG02-07ER46471, through the Materials Research Laboratory and Center for Microanalysis of Materials (DE-FG02-07ER46453) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. N.L. acknowledges support from a Beckman Institute postdoctoral fellowship. J.A.R. acknowledges a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Dae-Hyeong Kim, Nanshu Lu, Roozbeh Ghaffari and John A. Rogers: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

    Dae-Hyeong Kim, Nanshu Lu, Yun-Soung Kim, Lizhi Xu, Rak-Hwan Kim, Sukwon Hwang, Sang-Min Won & John A. Rogers

  2. MC10 Inc., 36 Cameron Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140, USA

    Roozbeh Ghaffari, Stephen P. Lee, Bassel de Graff & Brian Elolampi

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA

    Jian Wu & Younggang Huang

  4. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, USA

    Jizhou Song

  5. Institute of High Performance Computing, 1 Fusionopolis Way, #16-16 Connexis, 138632, Singapore

    Zhuangjian Liu

  6. Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Jonathan Viventi & Brian Litt

  7. Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA

    Moussa Mansour

  8. Sarver Heart Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85724, USA

    Marvin J. Slepian

  9. Department of Cardiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 9 Founders Pavilion, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Joshua D. Moss

  10. Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3 West Gates, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

    Brian Litt

Authors
  1. Dae-Hyeong Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nanshu Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Roozbeh Ghaffari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yun-Soung Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stephen P. Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Lizhi Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jian Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Rak-Hwan Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jizhou Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Zhuangjian Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Jonathan Viventi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Bassel de Graff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Brian Elolampi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Moussa Mansour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Marvin J. Slepian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Sukwon Hwang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Joshua D. Moss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Sang-Min Won
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Younggang Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. Brian Litt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. John A. Rogers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D-H.K., N.L., R.G. and J.A.R. designed the experiments. D-H.K., N.L., R.G., Y-S.K., S.P.L., L.X., J.W., R-H.K., J.S., Z.L., B.D.G., B.E., M.J.S., S.H., J.V., J.D.M., S-M.W., Y.H., B.L. and J.A.R. carried out experiments and analysis. D-H.K., N.L., R.G., M.M., M.J.S., J.S., Y.H. and J.A.R. wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John A. Rogers.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare competing financial interests: R.G., S.P.L. and B.dG. are employees with a company (MC10, Inc.) that is developing catheter-based devices for cardiac therapy. J.A.R. is a founder of this company; he and M.S. serve as advisors.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, DH., Lu, N., Ghaffari, R. et al. Materials for multifunctional balloon catheters with capabilities in cardiac electrophysiological mapping and ablation therapy. Nature Mater 10, 316–323 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2971

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2971

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing