Methods
TSP was performed on freshly excised porcine hearts using an electrified
0.014” or 0.032” guidewire under various power settings compared to
TSP using a dedicated RF wire with 5W power (0.035” VersaCross RF
System, Baylis Medical, Montreal, Canada). The primary endpoint was the
number of attempts required to achieve TSP. Secondary endpoints included
the rate of TSP failure, TSP consistency, effect of the distance between
tip of the guidewire and the tip of the dilator, and effect of RF power
output level. Qualitative secondary endpoints included tissue puncture
defect appearance, thermal damage to the TSP guidewire or dilator, and
tissue temperature using thermal imaging.