Difference in lesion characteristics between catheters
In our study, the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter produced smaller lesions than the TactiCathTM SE catheter, especially for perpendicular catheter placement (Figure 3A). A higher rate of temperature control in the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter, resulting in a lower average power, can partially explain this finding. However, lesion size was smaller with the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter with perpendicular catheter placement even at a 20W setting, in which temperature control was not observed. Another possible explanation is that the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter has a larger tip size of 8Fr 4mm, compared to 8Fr 3.5mm for the TactiCathTM SE catheter. In general, the current density of a larger tip catheter is lower for the same power setting, and therefore the current density of the FlexAbilityTM SE catheter should be lower, resulting in smaller lesion creation under the same power settings (5). Additionally, FlexabilityTM SE has more efficient cooling effect than TactiCathTM SE due to differences in irrigation profile.