CARDIOSTIM 2012

Cardiostim 2012, the 18th world congress in cardiac electrophysiology and cardiac techniques has been held in Nice last week and this time more than 5.000 delegates coming from over 100 countries have crowded the congress halls in the Acropolis.

Industry representatives and clinicians had the possibility to meet here in order to discuss on clinical outcomes, new techniques and future technologies.

One of the major innovations presented at the congress had been the 3D mapping and navigation systems dedicated to diagnostics and interventional rhythmology.

These revolutionary tools have been designed to help the implantation of stimulation catheters in CHF patients in order to obtain the best results from the cardiac resynchronization, to simplify the procedures and to reduce the use of fluoroscopy.

In terms of products, Medtronic presented CardioGuide a navigation system for cardiac resynchronization therapy implants. The system is able to generate 3D images of coronary vessels allowing a better road map for finding the best location for the LV lead placement.

St Jude Medical presented MediGuide a mini 3D GPS mapping system able to visualize in real-time the location of a MediGuide enabled device.

A strong focus was given also to the new MRI conditional devices.

Biotronik was present with a big booth entirely dedicated to proMRI devices and in particular to the new Lumax 740 proMRI the first ICD MRI conditional allowing for the first time tachyarrhythmia patients fitted with a device to undergo MR scans.

St. Jude Medical was promoting the Accent MRI family of pacemakers highlighting the availability of a dedicated MRI activator to simplify the device pre-MRI procedures.

Boston scientific showed a panel with a picture of the new pacemaker Ingenio MRI even if this new model MRI compatible seems not yet approved.

A good interest was around new CRT optimization systems with the purpose to improve the response of heart failure patients indicated for CRT.

Sorin presented the new SonR System based on a new hemodynamic sensor mounted in the tip of a dedicated atrial lead (SonRtip) that in combination with the new CRTD device (Paradym RF SonR) is able to provide an automatic weekly optimization.

In the same direction St Jude Medical was promoting the already introduced Quadripolar CRT system applied to the Quadra family of ICDs. This technology enables the physician to find the best pacing site choosing between 10 different LV pacing vectors.

Cameron Health (recently acquired by Boston Scientific) was present at the congress with a booth dedicated to the new S-ICD System, the world’s only ICD that provides reliable defibrillation therapy without transvenous leads. Unlike traditional ICDs that require leads placed in the hearth, this system is the first implantable completely subcutaneously leaving vasculature untouched and eliminating completely complications associated with transvenous leads. In fact both the device and the electrode are implanted just under the skin and outside the ribcage.

In a similar direction Medtronic seems to be working to realize a leadless pacemaker with reduced dimensions that will be implanted directly inside the hearth.

Between other topics, St Jude Medical had a part of the booth dedicated to new Ellipse ICD that with 31cc  of volume and 66g of weight seems to be the smallest ICD available on the market (even if not very far from the latest models of Medtronic and Boston Scientific).

Boston Scientific and Sorin were also proposing diagnostics solutions or clinical studies dedicated to the sleep apnea syndrome (SAS), the most widespread sleep breathing disorder commonly associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

The Cardiostim Innovation Award, selected by the congress attendees, honored the S-ICD of Cameron Health, the SonR optimization system of Sorin Group and the CardioGuide Implant System of Medtronic.

NayaMed, the new born cardiac device company with a strong focus on customer optimization and processes simplification, was not present at the congress.

Was it a way to differentiate, again, from all the other companies or just a matter of time to see NayaMed booth at a congress?”

In conclusion, in the beautiful contest of the city of Nice, a very crowded congress with interesting new technologies already available or next to come.

Be ready for the next Cardiostim appointment in June 2014… with NayaMed ?

Here is a quick look of this event :

Sergio Datteri, Independent Medical Device Consultant