Study purpose and design

SPHERE Per-AF was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the Affera™ mapping and ablation system with Sphere-9™ catheter to the CARTO®* navigation and mapping system with THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH®* SF (STSF) catheter for the treatment of drug-refractory patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. All 420 primary analysis patients received pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and additional linear lesions were permitted in order to treat documented macro reentrant tachycardias.


Global multicenter study


3 countries
United States, Israel, Czechia

 

23 sites

 

> 40 operators
 


420 patients treated
in primary analysis

 

< 12 months
to complete enrollment

 



Trial results1

The Sphere-9™ catheter with Affera™ mapping and ablation system displayed proven safety and effectiveness with superior efficiency.

  • 1.4% primary safety events versus 1% when using STSF
  • 74% primary effectiveness rate
  • 80% effectiveness in more than 10 cases2
  • 100% acute success of PVI and adjunctive linear lesions3
  • 25+ minutes saved per procedure




Adjunctive linear ablation with Sphere-9™ catheter resulted in a trend toward increased effectiveness versus PVI only in this persistent AF patient cohort.3

  • 24.5 minutes and 75.4 applications PVI (n = 212)
  • 4.1 minutes and 16.2 applications left atrial posterior wall (LAPW) (n = 203)
  • 3.5 minutes and 10.4 applications cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) line (n = 117)
  • 5.6 minutes and 24.1 applications mitral isthmus (MI) line (n = 76)


Sphere-9™ catheter procedural characteristic superiority over STSF1

  • 27 minutes less first to last application time
  • 29 minutes less energy application time


This illustration shows the first to last application time of the Sphere-9™ catheter when compared to the THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH™* SF catheter.


This illustration shows the energy application time of the Sphere-9™ catheter when compared to the THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH™* SF catheter.

This is an illustration of a gray dot.

THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH®* SF catheter

This is an illustration of a light blue dot.

Sphere-9™ catheter


Further procedural efficiencies1

One | Affera™ catheter

One catheter to map, ablate, and validate in more than 97% of procedures.

This is a blue illustration of the Sphere-9™ catheter.

Two | CARTO®* catheters

Two catheters needed in all procedures: one to map and validate and another to ablate.

This is an illustration of the CARTO™* mapping and validation catheter.
This is an illustration of the CARTO™* ablation catheter.

Watch several SPHERE Per-AF clinical trial investigators discuss the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency outcomes from the trial. 

Safety


Effectiveness


Efficiency


Watch the scientific exchange.

SPHERE Per-AF: Late-breaking data and IDE experience with the Sphere-9™ catheter

Watch Vivek Reddy, MD; Elad Anter, MD; and Khaldoun Tarakji, MD, review results from the SPHERE Per-AF IDE Trial.


Watch the congress recording.

Affera™ mapping and ablation system with Sphere-9™ dual-energy catheter case presentation and discussion

Watch Andrea Sarkozy, MD; Andrea Natale, MD; Moussa Mansour, MD; and Erich Kiehl, MD, discuss the operator learning curves from the SPHERE per-AF IDE Trial.


Educational resources on Medtronic Academy

Access detailed product information, including spec sheets, videos, and presentations.