Depth-resolved mapping of muscular bundles in myocardium pulmonary junction using optical coherence tomography

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and has high patient morbidity. One of the root causes of AF is initiating triggers from atrial myocardium extending into the pulmonary veins. Visualizing the muscular bundles of myocardial extension is essential to guide the catheter radio-frequency ablation and confirm the curative tissue necrosis thereafter. We applied optical coherence tomography (OCT) for direct visualization of cardial muscle extension in myocardium pulmonary junction. Two perspectives (cross-sectional and en face images) are presented for imaging myocardial extensions. The results demonstrated that cross-sectional images can quickly locate the myocardium pulmonary junction. And en face images provide depth-resolved arrangement information of muscular bundles in the myocardium pulmonary junction. The results indicated that OCT could potentially be used to guide catheter radio-frequency ablation for treatment of AF.