Vektor Medical’s vMap Noninvasive Mapping System Studied for Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy

September 9, 2021—Vektor Medical, Inc., a developer of next-generation arrhythmia mapping systems, announced the publication of results of a dual-site study involving the company’s noninvasive vMap system during stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SAbR). The vMap system, which is designed to improve first-pass ablation success and reduce procedure time, allows physicians to efficiently identify target sites while reducing risks associated with invasive mapping techniques, advised the company.

Vektor Medical advised that vMap is currently under regulatory review for approval as a noninvasive mapping tool that uses only 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) data to help physicians rapidly locate cardiac arrhythmia activation sites with precision. Using the company’s advanced algorithms, the vMap system turns ECG data into two- and three-dimensional (3D) cardiac maps of both stable and unstable rhythms in all four chambers of the heart, septum, and outflow tracts.

“Computational ECG Mapping and Respiratory Gating to Optimize Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Workflow for Refractory Ventricular Tachycardia” by Gordon Ho, MD, et al, is available online in Heart Rhythm O², an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the Heart Rhythm Society.

According to the company, the prospective study used a new noninvasive workflow involving vMap. In describing vMap’s role in facilitating arrhythmia, the paper noted it “may facilitate target planning via 3D visualization of [ventricular tachycardia (VT)] exit sites with precision appropriate for noninvasive VT ablation.” Additionally, unlike other workflows that require the use of a mapping vest or concurrent CT scan, the vMap workflow requires “only the digital 12-lead ECG data of the ventricular arrhythmia.”

The study was led by Dr. Ho, who is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of California San Diego in San Diego, California. This study is part of Dr. Ho’s research into how the use of novel cardiac imaging techniques can improve the accuracy of noninvasive ablation therapy of ventricular arrhythmias, noted Vektor Medical.

“SAbR is an emerging therapy that is showing great potential for treating refractory VT; however, the current workflow is complicated, and there are safety concerns for patients with significant cardiorespiratory motion and target sites near the stomach,” commented Dr. Ho in the company’s press release. “We were able to show that by incorporating the noninvasive vMap into radioablation planning that we could safely ablate VT, including in those more challenging cases. Further studies will be needed, but this is an exciting first step to improve safety and efficacy of SAbR therapy.”

Vektor Medical stated that in the study, noninvasive mapping using vMap was successfully performed in all patients, identifying 4.2 ± 2.3 VT morphologies per patient, with a mean mapping time of 1.1 ± 0.1 minutes per VT morphology. A total of seven distinct VT morphologies had previously been mapped during an invasive electrophysiology study, and vMap was able to localize the VT exit within the exact cardiac segment in all seven instances (100%).

The investigators concluded that the noninvasive workflow using vMap’s 12-lead ECG mapping “may help facilitate the radioablation planning workflow and provide short-term safety and maintaining efficacy during SAbR therapy in patients with advanced structural heart disease and refractory VT.”