of the ceramic igniters 1 are preferably inside the filter body of the filter f the ceramic igniters being pushed wholly or partially into the filter body this has the advantage of enabling efficient transmission of heat energy to the soot accumulated in the filter body of the filter f in one variant of the invention the ceramic igniters are on the substantially cylindrical outside lateral surface 2 of the filter body and are preferably pushed into housings which are preferably of complementary shape formed in the surface 2 the shape of the housings is preferably determined so that the igniters do not project from the surface 2 for more detailed information on the disposition of the ceramic igniters see french patent application no 0013998 however the invention is not limited to heating through direct contact of the heating means with the particles of soot the exhaust gases or the filter body may be heated the ceramic igniters 1 are connected by electrical wires 3 to control means 5 adapted to supply them selectively with an ignition electrical current according to the invention this device further comprises a computer 7 for managing the control means 5 and evaluation means 9 for evaluating the engine torque delivered by the engine m for example by measuring the position of an accelerator pedal 10.