Fact checked by Jim Lacy
OSF Healthcare announced recently that its Electrophysiology Lab now offers people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) a brand-new technology called Farapulse. Within Chicago, only about 10 hospitals offer the radiation-free treatment, including Ascension Resurrection, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and University of Chicago Medicine.
Designed by Boston Scientific, Farapulse is an FDA-approved cardiac ablation treatment. Traditional ablation procedures use extreme temperatures that can damage surrounding tissue, but the Farapulse system uses non-thermal electric fields, referred to as pulsed field ablation, to restore and regulate heartbeats and slow the progression of AFib.
“The lack of fluoroscopy or X-ray exposure is an advantage to patients who no longer have to be irradiated during these procedures,” says cardiac electrophysiologist Bahij Kreidieh, MD. “It is also a big long-term safety advantage to our operating room staff who are standing in these procedures repeatedly for many years.”
Cardiac ablation with the Farapulse technology takes less than an hour, and patients typically return home the same day as the procedure. “On follow up in the office, we are happy to report that they usually have recovered their heart function back to normal,” Kreidieh says.
Above photo: Physicians at OSF Healthcare work with the cardiac ablation treatment, Farapulse, for the treatment of AFib. Courtesy of OSF HealthCare
Originally published in the Spring/Summer 2025 print issue.
Stephanie Bouchard is a freelance journalist who writes about health and wellness, lifestyles, and pets.
