A cooled water-irrigated intraesophageal balloon to prevent thermal injury during cardiac ablation: experimental study based on an agar phantom

A great deal of current research is directed to finding a way to minimize thermal injury in the esophagus during radiofrequency catheter ablation of the atrium. A recent clinical study employing a cooling intraesophageal balloon reported a reduction of the temperature in the esophageal lumen. However, it could not be determined whether the deeper muscular layer of the esophagus was cooled enough to prevent injury. We built a model based on an agar phantom in order to experimentally study the thermal behavior of this balloon by measuring the temperature not only on the balloon, but also at a hypothetical point between the esophageal lumen and myocardium (2 mm distant). Controlled temperature (55 °C) ablations were conducted for 120 s. The results showed that (1) the cooling balloon provides a reduction in the final temperature reached, both on the balloon surface and at a distance of 2 mm; (2) coolant temperature has a significant effect on the temperature measured at 2 mm from the esophageal lumen (it has a less effect on the temperature measured on the balloon surface) and (3) the pre-cooling period has a significant effect on the temperature measured on the balloon surface (the effect on the temperature measured 2 mm away is small). The results were in good agreement with those obtained in a previous clinical study. The study suggests that the cooling balloon gives thermal protection to the esophagus when a minimum pre-cooling period of 2 min is programmed at a coolant temperature of 5 °C or less.