Corindus Vascular Robotics received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its CorPath GRX, the second generation of its vascular robotic system. The system builds upon the original CorPath platform, adding a significant number of key upgrades that increase precision, improve workflow and extend the capabilities and range of interventional procedures that can be performed robotically. These features include Active Guide Management, which enables control of the guide catheter along with robotic control of the guidewire and balloon or stent catheter, with 1 millimeter advancement, from the Control Console. This precise positioning will enable physicians to adjust guide catheter position during PCI procedures, and may expand use of CorPath to more complex cases. The new system also features a completely redesigned Bedside Unit, featuring an Extended Reach Arm and a touchscreen display to streamline workflow.

The CorPath GRX was displayed for the first time at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2016 conference. Read more about the FDA approval.

A discussion with Torsten Vahl, M.D., about advancements in transcatheter valve repair technology, including new devices for the aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves.  Vahl is director of experimental and translational research and assistant professor of medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy. The interview took place at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2016 annual meeting.

Related Transcatheter Valve Content:

Advances and Future Directions for Transcatheter Valves

Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement Devices in Development

Advances in Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Technologies

VIDEO: Update of Mitral Valve Repair and Replacement Technologies at TCT 2017 — Interview with Ted Feldman, M.D.,

TAVR Operator and Hospital Requirements Outlined in 2018 AATS/ACC/SCAI/STS Expert Consensus

VIDEO: Tricuspid Device Clinical Trial Overview — Interview with Ori Ben-Yehuda, M.D.

Recent Advances in Transcatheter Valve Technology

VIDEO: Tricuspid Valve Imaging and Interventions Developing Hand-in-hand at ASE 2018— Interview with Rebecca Hahn, M.D.

Hospital Consolidation May Increase Access to TAVR, New Cardiac Technologies

VIDEO: TAVR for Degenerated Surgical Valves - 2017 Update— Valve-in-Valve TAVR Procedures — Interview with Sammy Elmariah, M.D.

How to Perform Transcaval TAVR Access

VIDEO: The Essentials of CT Transcatheter Valve Imaging — Interview with Jonathon Leipsic, M.D.

Advances in Heart Valve Technology in 2017

VIDEO: TAVR For Asymptomatic Severe Aortic Stenosis — Interview with Philippe Genereux, M.D.

VIDEO: Conscious Sedation for TAVR Procedures — Interview with Mario Goessl, M.D.

VIDEO: Overview of the Henry Ford Hospital Structural Heart Program

A discussion with Juan Granada, M.D., about transcatheter mitral valve advancements and device challenges at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2016 annual meeting. Granada is executive director and chief scientific officer of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation's Skirball Center for Innovation. Read the articles “Advances and Future Directions for Transcatheter Valves,” and “Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement Devices in Development.”

A discussion with Todd Brinton, M.D., about the newly FDA-cleared Shockwave Medical Lithoplasty System, at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2016 annual meeting. Brinton is clinical associate professor and adjunct associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University Medical Center. Read the article “FDA Clears Lithoplasty Balloon That Shatters Calcified Lesions With Ultrasound.”
 

A discussion with Michael Reardon, M.D. about the state of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as of late 2016. He is a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, was the chairman of the patient screening committee for the CoreValve U.S. pivotal trial, nation PI on the Lotus Pivotal Trial, and the national PI of the ongoing the CoreValve intermediate and low-risk trials. Read more in the article "Trends in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)."

Juan Granada, M.D., executive director and chief scientific officer of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation's Skirball Center for Innovation, explains the shortcomings of the first bioresorbable stent on the U.S. market, proper patient selection and what new BRS technologies are in development. Granada presented numerous sessions on bioresorbable scaffolds at TCT 2016. Read more about bioresorbable stents in "Tempering the Bioresorbable Stent Euphoria Following FDA Clearance of the Absorb."

David Kandzari, M.D., director of interventional cardiology and chief scientific officer, Piedmont Heart Institute, Atlanta, Ga., explains the impact of the EXCEL Trial at TCT 2016. Piedmont recruited the highest number of patients for the large, randomized trial found the Xience V drug-eluting stent had comparable outcomes to coronary artery bypass graft surgery. This is the first time this parity has been shown in a large trial. Read the article "Stents, Bypass Surgery Equally Safe and Effective for Many With Left Main Heart Disease."

This video, provided by Zoll, demonstrates how cardiologists can explain sudden cardiac death to patients. It is critical to educate patients who are at risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), so Rahul Doshi, M.D., director of electrophysiology, associate professor of clinical medicine, Keck Medical Center of University of Southern California, explains sudden cardiac death (SCD) to his patients using a simple illustration. Visit SCDFacts.org for additional resources for you and your team to support the SCD conversation with your patients. One in five post-AMI patients have been shown to be at high risk of dying after PCI.1 The majority of mortality in AMI patients post-PCI occurs in the first three months — one out of every 10 high-risk patients die, with about 60 percent of this mortality due to SCD.[1,2] 

1. Halkin A, et al. Prediction of Mortality After Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Myocardial Infarction: CADILLAC Risk Score. JACC 2005;45:1397–1405.

2. Stone G, et al. Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Post PTCA in High-Risk Patients. Medscape. April 2011. https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/741503_transcript

With bundled payments putting increased pressure on hospitals to manage supply costs while providing quality patient care, there is no room in your cath lab for high-value medical device waste. An automated inventory management solution could help you find and reduce the waste hiding in your supply chain while helping to improve your total cost of care. Visit cardinalhealth.com/CIMS. 

Pacemakers, stents and bandages — keeping tracking of what is on hand and accurately capturing charges can be a challenge. What if you could track, manage and analyze your cath lab inventory – low cost to high value – to reveal powerful business intelligence and shine a light on new savings and revenue capture? 

Interview with Stephen Little, M.D., medical director of the Valve Clinic at the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) 2016 annual meeting. He explains the technologies his center is using to aid transcatheter structural heart procedure navigation, including TAVR, transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR), LAA occlusion, and septal defect occlusions. Read the article “Requirements for Interventional Echocardiographers.” Also, watch the VIDEO "What is Required for Interventional Echo - Discussion With Rebecca Hahn."

This is an animation, supplied by Gore, demonstrated how the Cardioform Septal Occluder is implanted for the transcatheter closure of ASDs or PFOs. It is a permanent implant consisting of a wire frame covered with a thin ePTFE membrane. The wire frame is made of a nitinol alloy. Read more about closing holes in the heart.

Read about the FDA additional PFO closure indication approval in April 2017.  

David Holmes, M.D., professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and consultant, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, shares details from his presentations at ACC.16 regarding the Watchman left atrial appendage occluder. 

John Carroll, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and director of interventional cardiology at the University of Colorado Hospital, explains his late-breaker presentation data at ACC.16.  He researched outcomes and procedural volume based on the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) STS/ACC TVT Registry.

A discussion on the adoption rate of FFR-CT with Dr. Campbell Rogers, chief medical officer of HeartFlow. It is the first vendor to gain FDA approval for noninvasive, virtual fractional flow reserve measurements derived from cardiac computed tomography scans. Read the article "Clinical Applications of FFR-CT."
 

Dr. Vinod Thourani, professor of surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine and a co-investigator for the PARTNER II Trial, discusses the biggest news item from ACC.16 — the Sapien 3 TAVR device performed better that surgical aortic valve replacement. 

ITN/DAIC Editor Dave Fornell shows his choices for some of the most innovative new imaging technologies on the expo floor at Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2015 meeting.

Tom Watson, clinical analyst for MDBuyLine, and DAIC Dave Fornell discuss some of the technology trends at the 2015 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) annual meeting.

Guillaume Baillaird, CEO of ControlRad Systems, described how his company's technology can significantly reduce radiation dose to staff and patients during angiography procedures.