Vendors showcase the latest medical imaging technological advances each year during the annual Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting in Chicago, always held the week following Thanksgiving. After spending a week walking the show floor and meeting with scores of vendors at RSNA 2011, the following are my choices for the most innovative new technologies presented this year.

A New Chapter Opens for Ultrasound Visualization

Each year that I attend Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT), I comb the event and its sessions looking for the next big trend or technological innovations in cardiovascular devices. Below are my finds for the most cutting-edge and futuristic technologies at TCT 2011.

Robots in the Cath Lab

December 20, 2011 –– Howie Lindeman was facing the loss of his career and Neim Malo wasn’t supposed to see 2011. They were each treated for heart disease years ago using their own stem cells to repair their damaged heart tissue. Several years following treatment from Regenocyte, both men continue to see improvement in their condition and quality of life.

December 20, 2011 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed a safety review of the anti-arrhythmia drug Multaq (dronedarone). It showed an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events, including death, when used by patients in permanent atrial fibrillation (AF).

 

December 19, 2011 – The role of cardiovascular ultrasound in the catheterization laboratory has never been appreciated more than it is today. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) allows a multidisciplinary team of interventionalists and echocardiographers to replace a patient's diseased aortic valve without traditional open-heart surgery, enabling a new and potentially life-saving method of treatment for inoperable patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis.

December 19, 2011 – The Maryland Chapter of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) reiterated their call for the state of Maryland to require rigorous internal and external review of stenting practices in hospitals in the state after an advisory group recommended a lower standard.

 

December 19, 2011— Newborns, toddlers and teens who suffer from heart failure and need heart transplantation to survive just got a life-saving pediatric heart pump that buys time and allows them to grow stronger as they wait for a donor heart. The Berlin Heart Group announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) approval of the Berlin Heart Excor Pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD).

 
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