Accuracy
For clinical use, the error of force-sensing catheters ideally should be as low as possible and the accuracy should be independent of other parameters such as catheter-to-tissue angle. Bourier et al. found an overall mean error of 1.2g for the Tacticath catheter when measuring at different contact angles, with individual catheters, irrigation, and catheter deflection14. Irrigation and deflection did not have an influence on the accuracy of the sensor and therefore were not repeated here.
Further, the contact angle may influence the accuracy, as the individual sensors on each axis are strained differently. In that regard, we did not find a decreased accuracy for contact parallel to tissue, however, it seems that the Z-axis sensor of Stablepoint is too sensitive. For comparison, Bourier et al. found a decreased accuracy for the SmartTouch® catheter at 90° of contact19.