Limitations
The primary limitation is that this study was performed on an in vitro model and the results cannot be translated directly into clinical practice. However, these limitations similarly affect both catheters, so that differences between the two catheters may be preserved.
Secondly, CF was measured using a submersible load cell and not using a catheter incorporating a CF sensor in both catheters because of the absence of contact force sensing technology in the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter. However, this technique did provide a reliable correlation to CF for the TactiCathTM SE catheter (for perpendicular angle R = 0.97 and for parallel angle R = 0.77).
Finally, to avoid frequent temperature-control in ex-vivo setting, the flow rate (=20ml/min) was used for FlexAbilityTM SE in this study, which may result in smaller lesions.