A new device developed at The Ohio State University (Columbus,OH,USA;www.osu.edu) gently shifts the esophagus away from the danger zone during a catheter ablation to prevent potential lifethreatening injuries, thereby enhancing patient safety significantly.

With the new device,surgeons can employ suction force to draw in the esophagus and subsequently shift the entire segment about an inch aside to successfully establish a safe path for delivering energy during the catheter ablation procedure.

When the innovative device was employed in a clinical trial,less than 5% of patients incurred any esophageal damage,and those injuries were notably less severe than in the control group.