CHORUS

Cardiac arrhythmias are related to dysfunction of electrical conduction in the heart. When the drugs are ineffective, thermal ablation by catheterization is practiced. In an attempt to address the limitations of these treatments (incomplete lesions, motion compensation and real-time imaging), the CHORUS project aims to develop a transesophageal ultrasound probe. Preliminary in vivo results have demonstrated the feasibility of the concept, but moving to clinical evaluation requires facilitating the procedure, compensating for cardiac motion, and improving treatment-monitoring imaging. Specifically, the project aims to design an ultrasound transducer matrix for MRI-compatible imaging and therapy, to use ultrafast ultrasound imaging to characterize thermal injury and electro-mechanical coupling, and develop tracking solutions for treatment planning.