March 20, 2012 - DR Systems announced new contracts with four facilities for the company's Unity CVIS (Cardiovascular Information System). The facilities are: Twin Cities Community Hospital, Good Shepherd Medical Center, HealthCare Partners Medical Group and St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital.
Jack Miller, 62, is probably the only politician in America who smiles when people call him “heartless.” Four months ago, doctors at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center in Richmond removed his dying heart and replaced it with the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart.
March 19, 2012 - Cameron Health Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Circulatory System Devices Panel will review the premarket approval (PMA) application of the S-ICD System on April 26, 2012.
Providing exceptional cardiovascular care for patients to achieve the best possible outcomes is the number one goal for ...
There has been a convergence of expertise, deciding what is the best approach for patients and combining skill sets, imaging systems and tools of both interventionalists and surgeons, is the recent trend of hybrid ORs.
Management of coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) is individualized depending on the severity of symptoms, ischemia and on the severity of concomitant coronary artery disease (CAD). Treatment should include anti-anginal and other therapies to promote vascular health. Patients who remain symptomatic or have a large burden of ischemia despite maximal medical therapy can be considered for revascularization.
Cardiology departments have hosted a variety of software solutions in the past to meet varying demands. A recent report from KLAS reveals that the cardiology IT market is moving toward consolidation. The report, “Cardiology 2012: Will the Complete Cardiovascular Information System (CVIS) Please Stand Up?” explains a result of this consolidation trend is that providers are looking for a technology leader to step up and meet their needs.
Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) is growing in popularity among cardiologists because it provides the ability ...
Computer-aided detection (CAD) software constitutes a set of algorithms which, using a pattern-recognition technique, aids the radiologist in detecting potentially diseased regions and lesions. It uses clinical images obtained from various imaging modalities. CAD has long since left behind its branding as a mammography tool and has now widened its application areas, becoming a valuable tool for detection and diagnosis in cardiology.
March 19, 2012 – Individuals suffering from chronic heart failure (CHF) can look forward to the appearance of many new drug options over the next few years and place hope in a cure through future stem cell therapies, according to a new report by GlobalData.
While risk for sudden death is increased four- to six-fold in patients who have experienced myocardial infarction, it remains challenging to identify the specific patients who will benefit from the standard-of-care therapy, namely, implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).
When performing radiofrequency (RF) ablation to treat cardiac arrhythmia, medical professionals must balance the safety ...
March 19, 2012 - Biomedical Systems, a global provider of cardiac diagnostic services and products, has introduced the TruVue Wireless Ambulatory ECG Monitoring System for the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation and other complex cardiac arrhythmia. TruVue's diagnostic benefits include the ability to record and wirelessly transmit every heartbeat for up to 30 days, perform advanced arrhythmia analysis and to provide immediate online access to all transmitted ECG.
Transcatheter heart valves are viewed as the poster children devices representing the latest in cutting-edge cardiac therapy technology. For this reason, it is not surprising nearly all the readers’ nominations for DAIC’s “Most Innovative Heart Centers” included hospitals that created minimally invasive structural heart programs using the Edwards Sapien aortic valve and the Medtronic Melody pulmonary valve. Implementation of these programs usually involves the creation of a hybrid operating room (OR) and close collaboration of numerous specialists using a team approach to evaluate patients and determine the best course of treatment. Various therapy approaches are used, which can all be performed in the hybrid OR in a single surgical session.
March 16, 2012 -- Kensey Nash Corp. today announced that the company has entered into a $39 million settlement agreement with St. Jude Medical, which resolves all disputes between the two companies relating to the Angio-Seal vascular closure device licenses. As part of the settlement agreement, the companies also agreed to extend their collagen supply agreement through 2017 and expand the minimums to be provided over the contract term to 5 million units.
Change Healthcare Cardiology Hemodynamics is an integrated hemodynamic monitoring system for monitoring vital signs and ...
We are at an inflection point with many aspects of medicine, not the least of which concerns choosing the correct tool to discover and manage coronary artery disease. The American landscape of clinical and imaging service providers is going through a major reshuffle. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) is growing in utilization, taking its place as an established modality with AHA, ACC and ACR society-derived appropriate use standards. However, this growth in CT utilization and the resultant growth in per capita radiation exposure have elevated a public debate about the risk of causing cancer versus the value of its information.
April 15, 2012, will mark the 10th anniversary of the approval of the first drug-eluting stent (DES). Ten years ago, the mood surrounding the new anti-restinotic silver bullet stent was one of jubilance. The approval of the new drug-eluting stent completely revolutionized coronary stenting. Ten years later, the first company to win approval for a DES, ironically, has become one of the first to leave the product behind.
Hospitals that have built multimillion-dollar, specialized cardiovascular hybrid operating rooms (ORs) are hoping to make a return on investment (ROI) by attracting more referrals with the latest technology. However, many hospitals with hybrid rooms say it takes more than new, cutting-edge technology to be successful — the real secret is collaboration of several specialties to decide what is best for the patient.