Fifty-six-year-old Tom Calvaresi is the driving force behind his family winery. So when his heart started feeling funny, he didn't ignore it.

"Could feel it flutter a bit," Tom. "Kind of like if you overuse a muscle, you can feel it jumping around a little bit in your arm. Well, I felt this in my chest."

Doctors diagnosed Tom with atrial fibrillation. It's a condition that occurs when the heart's electrical pulses "short-circuit," causing changes to the speed or rhythm of the heartbeat. Left untreated, atrial fibrillation can increase the risk of stroke.

The disorder threatened Tom's livelihood.

---

READ MORE: New Treatment For Heart Arrhythmias

"I have to be able to drink wine in order to be in this business and be at the top of my game, and alcohol is one of the triggers," he said.

Right now, surgeons use what is called a catheter ablation to turn pulmonary vein tissue into scar tissue so electrical pulses can't get through. Doctors make dozens of lesions in a dotted pattern around the vein. But it's not always a success.

Dr. David Callans is testing a new system designed to stop the recurrence of atrial fibrillation using high-intensity focused ultrasound.

"It's deployed on a balloon," said Dr. Callans. "The balloon can fit around the top of the pulmonary veins."

He says with this procedure, the ultrasound is delivered very precisely. Dr. Callans says the symptoms of atrial fibrillation shouldn't come back. It took three traditional ablation procedures to make Tom's symptoms go away. Now, he says it's good to know a new kind of help may soon be available, if his heart problems come back.

Dr. Callans says this clinical trial involving the high-intensity focused ultrasound is the last step before FDA approval. The same technique is already used to treat certain cancers.