Freudenberg Medical‘s VistaMed today said it is a part of a team that was awarded €5.1 million ($6 million) over a three-year period to develop a catheter to improve treatment of cardiac arrhythmia.

VistaMed, along with OneProjects and the Tyndall Institute, received the grant sponsored by the Irish government through the Disruptive Technology & Innovation Fund. The consortium of the three companies will use the funds to develop a catheter to deliver direct 3D, intraprocedural analysis of the success of cardiac ablation during atrial fibrillation treatment.

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is characterized by an irregular heartbeat or cardiac arrhythmia and can lead to blood clots, stroke and heart failure. It affects more than 38 million people globally. Success rates for patients undergoing cardiac ablation can be as low as 50%, according to VistaMed. OneProjects has developed the Verafeye to provide 4D cardiac imaging for navigation and therapy planning, as well as a confirmation to clinicians where lesions are being created and if they are complete.

“The resulting platform technology will achieve better patient outcomes treating millions of people worldwide who suffer with cardiac arrhythmia,” Patrick Mulholland, managing director at VistaMed, said in a news release.