Interesting Development

[dmac4646]

Here is an interesting development in treatment of VT - wonder if there are possibilities for AF

nytimes.com/2017/12/13/heal...

[pottypete1]

This article, whilst explaining this new treatment, seriously over dramatises ablation procedure making it sound far more dangerous, lengthy and invasive.

Way over the top in my opinion.

Pete

[dmac4646 in reply to pottypete1]

Interesting, I think it merely underlines the possible benefit of a non invasive process that if proven satisfactory would be significantly less bothersome than ablation as we know it. Its not so much the ablation but the recovery time post ablation thats the most troublesome for many - i hope that we will see a much less bothersome process in the future.

[Mike11]

There's a group in a London hospital working on something very similar. A company I have worked with in the past makes the special ECG vest for it mentioned in the article, though I don't know if this is the one the American hospital is using.

[dmac4646 in reply to Mike11]

Its the mapping bit thats really interesting..

What made the new method possible was the fusion of two techniques. The first, stereotactic radiation, is used at some medical centers to treat cancer patients. It employs a highly focused and intense beam of radiation to destroy tumors.

The other technique maps the heart to pinpoint the exact location of scar tissue. The patients wears a vest made of chains of electrocardiogram leads — 256 in all, compared with 10 for the usual electrocardiogram. The doctors overlay data from the vest with images from scans of the patient’s heart.

“That gives us a beautiful three-dimensional image of where the arrhythmia is coming from,” said Dr. Phillip S. Cuculich, a heart rhythm expert at Washington University in St. Louis and first author of the new study.

[Mike11 in reply to dmac4646]

Yes it's the second technique that was perfected at a London hospital. The first technique is the new bit in this article

[dmac4646 in reply to Mike11]

That's interesting I hadn't heard of that - great to see progress being made ..

[Mike11 in reply to dmac4646]

Just found out they are one and the same thing - in 2015 Medtronic bought the company that developed the vest using Imperial College hospital as it's main testing place

[dmac4646]

thanks for that, will be interesting to see how this develops