Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center has become the first hospital in the country to use a new cardiac mapping system to treat heart rhythm disorders.
The Navik 3D mapping system was installed at the Milwaukee facility in early March, and was first used to treat a patient March 22. It differs from other methods of heart mapping, because it doesn’t require any specialized tools beyond the standard imaging materials carried by hospitals.
Developed by Waukesha-based APN Health with help from the Aurora Research Institute, Navik 3D lets doctors more easily find irregular heartbeats.
Aurora Health Care says over five million Americans experience arrhythmias every year. The most common type is atrial fibrillation, or AFIB.
AFIB is responsible for up to 20 percent of all strokes, because it can often cause blood clots, according to Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin.
“As we look at more effective ways to treat patients, this type of technology will likely allow clinicians around the world use it because it doesn’t require some of the equipment that previous treatment methods required,” said Jasbir Sra, a renowned cardiac electrophysiologist with Aurora Health Care and vice president of Aurora Heart and Vascular Services.
He performed the first procedure with the Navik 3D system, and also played a role in its development as managing member of APN Health.
He calls the system a “major advancement in the treatment of arrhythmias,” which has the potential to cure many patients long term.
Sra first got clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to market the system in March 2016, after he and his team had been working on it for about four years. Testing and product development was done at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center and the Aurora Research Institute.
Aurora St. Luke’s is one of five hospitals around the world to use this technology in early 2018, according to a release. Other locations are in Illinois, California and India.
See more details on the Navik 3D system: http://www.apnhealth.com/navik3d
–By Alex Moe
WisBusiness.com
