An infrared coagulator to assist surgical treatment of infective endocarditis.

Abstract

We previously demonstrated that infrared coagulator IRK-151 (Lumatec, Deisenhofen, Germany) is capable of creating a transmural lesion while preserving the epicardium and endocardium of the beating right atrium and right ventricle in a canine model (1). Since the original IRK-151 model contains a 3-sec timer and its plastic body is not strong enough to tolerate long coagulation times, we modified it by replacing the body with reinforced heat-resistant plastic and substituting a digital programmable timer so that it would be strong enough to perform myocardial ablation, and we demonstrated that the coagulator is capable of creating a conduction block on the beating right atrium clinically (2).