Innovative System Simplifies Beating Heart Surgery

A developmental system could simplify and standardize the transapical access and closure procedure required for delivering therapeutic devices to the heart.

Developed by researchers at Georgia Tech (Atlanta, USA) and Emory University (Druid Hills, GA, USA), the heart surgery system is based on proprietary technology that allows a conduit to be securely attached to the beating heart. The attending surgeons can then deliver therapeutic devices, such as heart valves or left ventricular assist devices (LVAD), without loss of blood or exposure to air. Once a therapeutic device has been delivered and surgery is complete, the system closes and seals the access site with a biocompatible implant; the closure site can be reopened if necessary. The technology behind the new system has been licensed to Apica Cardiovascular (Atlanta, GA, USA), a medical device startup company established jointly by both universities.


"Our company has leveraged the expertise in cardiovascular technology at Georgia Tech and the clinical experience of surgeons at Emory University to develop a technology that has the potential to revolutionize the delivery of different types of medical devices to the heart, including aortic and mitral valves,” said James Greene, CEO of Apica Cardiovascular.

"By minimizing the incision size to gain access to the beating heart and eliminating the need for conventional sutures, our system improves safety, decreases procedure time, and reduces the technical challenges associated with these new minimally invasive procedures,” said codeveloper Vinod Thourani, MD, an associate professor of surgery and associate director of the structural heart center in Emory University's division of cardiothoracic surgery.

"Our goal is to accelerate and expand the adoption of less-invasive therapeutic procedures to a greater number of surgeons, and as a result, many underserved patients will receive needed treatment for valve disease and end-stage heart failure,” added codeveloper biomedical engineer Professor Ajit Yoganathan, PhD, director of the cardiovascular fluid mechanics laboratory at Emory University.

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