GE Healthcare and Biosense Webster expanded their partnership by introducing a smaller intracardiac echo (ICE) catheter for use with the Vivid family of cardiovascular compact echo systems, at the 21st annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference.

At last year’s TCT meeting, GE announced its entry into the ICE arena by enabling its Vivid i and Vivid q echo systems to be compatible with Biosense Webster’s AcuNav 10F ICE catheter. Now, GE’s echo systems will support an 8F catheter, which is better suited for smaller patients who can’t tolerate the larger catheter.

The Vivid cardiac echo systems also will support Biosense Webster’s 3D ICE SoundStar catheter, as well as be compatible with the Carto XP mapping system. The SoundStar catheter has sensors at its tip that allow users to create a 3D electrophysiology map of the interior anatomy of the heart using ultrasound rather than discreet activation points.

“This is important for two reasons,” says David Tolan, marketing manager at GE. “Using ultrasound is quicker than mapping from discreet activation points, which saves time and radiation exposure. And with SoundStar, there is no need to go into the left side of the heart, which reduces the risk of clots and the need to keep patients heparinized longer.”

Tolan said that the new integration “allows our customers to utilize the Vividi system for a wider population of patients and procedures."