• TactiFlex™ Sensor Enabled™ Ablation Catheter, is the world’s first ablation catheter designed with a unique flexible electrode tip and contact force sensing to treat patients with atrial fibrillation
• When used with Abbott’s EnSite™ X EP System, physicians have better visualization allowing for more accuracy and precision, leading to reduced procedure times and better safety
NEW DELHI, May 14, 2025 – Abbott, the global healthcare company,announced the launch of the TactiFlex™ Sensor Enabled™ Ablation Catheter, the world’s first ablation catheter with a flexible tip and contact force technology.
The heart uses its own electrical system to start up every beat. But if that system breaks down, and the heart beats in an irregular way, that’s arrhythmia. The most common type of irregular heartbeat is called atrial fibrillation, or AFib, for short. It’s caused by electrical impulses that misfire, causing the top chambers, or atria, to quiver or flutter. Basically the heart is out of its normal rhythm. This irregular heartbeat can lead to serious issues like blood clots, strokes, and other heart-related problems.
Cardiac ablation is a minimally invasive procedure in which a physician accesses the heart through a blood vessel. A catheter (a long, steerable tube) enters the vessel and is placed in the heart where diagnostic devices will be used to determine the area of the heart that needs to be treated. The physician will use the catheter to apply energy to the targeted heart tissue to create small scars. These block the faulty electrical signals that cause the irregular heartbeat. TactiFlex is a catheter used to perform ablation procedures that treat AFib. This device results in reduced procedure times and better safety ascompared to the company’s previous generation catheters.
“For those suffering from AFib, daily tasks can be challenging due todizziness, chest pain and heart palpitations. If left untreated, AFib can also lead to a stroke, making it critical to address the issue as early as possible,” said Henry Cheng, General Manager, Asia and Director Strategy, Asia Pacific for Abbott’s Electrophysiology business. “This device helps doctors restore normal heart rhythms by guiding electrical currents back to their proper pathways.”
“When used with the EnSite X EP System, doctors can accurately map and identify areas of the heart that need treatment, ensuring precise results and better patient outcomes. Unlike other catheters, the TactiFlex catheter uses a tip design with a laser-cut pattern that flexes when in contact with the heart wall. This helps direct fluid to the treated tissue and allows for more accurate positioning of the catheter – providing up to two-times higher stability in a beating heart – for consistent therapy delivery,” said Rahul Sharma, Country Manager for Abbott’s Electrophysiology business in India.
More than 37 million people worldwide live with atrial fibrillation, and this number is predicted to more than double by 2050. Each year, an additional five million cases are diagnosed, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions for both patients and physicians7.
As per the Indian heart Journal, in India, the incidence of AFib is rising, though it remains lower compared to Western countries. Studies in India have reported a wide range of prevalence from 0.1% to 1.6%. Indian patients with AFib tend to be younger and more often female. Despite the lower prevalence, the burden of this condition is growing, necessitating better diagnostic and management strategies8.
The Abbott TactiFlex catheter has demonstrated strong clinical outcomes in the TactiFlex AF IDE study, showing that it can create fast, safe lesions to treat AFib with over 99% acute procedural success9.