Jiangmen, China – On September 8, Shanghai MicroPort EP MedTech Co., Ltd. ("MicroPort® EP") attended the 2017 Guangdong Medical Association Cardiology Academic Annual Meeting with more than 800 professionals and clinicians in attendance to exchange ideas on the latest academic advancement and future development trend of the cardiology field. During the meeting, MicroPort® EP displayed its in-house developed Columbus™ 3D EP Navigation System ("Columbus™") and invited many experts to share their clinical experience with the system, which attracted wide attention from the attendees.
In his speech, Professor Dongdong Que of Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University said, Columbus™ is the first domestically developed 3D EP navigation system for the diagnosis and treatment of complex arrhythmias. It provides information about the electrical activity of the heart and catheter location in real time to facilitate physicians in catheter ablation. The magnetic navigation system is composed of the reference patch and magnetic generator under the operation bed. The trajectory of FireMagic™ 3D Ablation Catheter with magnetic sensor can be recorded in real time. At the same time, Professor Dongdong Que introduced the features of Columbus™, including: 1. real-time catheter navigation, 2. real-time, whole process, and no-lagging 3D image, 3. anatomy model with electrical signal, 4. combined with EP recording function, 5. RTM (Real Time Mapping): through the sensor in the tip, the path of the catheter can be calculated and the cardiac structure model can be constructed in a very short time, 6. "Micro" exposure: Columbus™ system and catheters can reduce the amount of X-ray radiation dose.
Professor Dongdong Que said, RVOT PVC and VT are the most commonly seen ventricular arrhythmias. As for such diseases, radiofrequency ablation treatment has good long-term efficacy, few complications with matured mapping and ablation techniques. Afterwards, he shared a case of Columbus™ in treating RVOT PVC performed by Professor Xudong Song of Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University. Short sheath was introduced first through femoral vein, followed by the introduction of long sheath, to ensure there's no resistance when inserting the guide wire. The time of structuring model is six minutes, and the whole mapping and ablation time is 17 minutes. Professor Dongdong Que said: “The three tools of RVOT PVC mapping is: activation map, pacing map and unipolar signal. Based on magnetic navigation, Columbus™ provides accurate location and reduces signal interference. It's safe and feasible to process the RVOT PVC ablation with no X-ray by Columbus™.”
Professor Yuegang Wang of Southern Medical University Affiliated Hospital said, with the development of new technologies and the application of new equipment, 3D mapping has been widely used in radiofrequency ablation. He compared traditional 2D EP operation and new EP mapping system and technologies to demonstrate the advantages of the 3D mapping system, including largely reducing the X ray exposure, mapping and presenting the reentry loops of arrhythmias, determining the integrity of linear ablation, high accuracy of catheter location memory, and for some hemodynamic instability or not easily induced arrhythmias, mapping can be done in the sinus rhythm or pacing.
Professor Yuegang Wang shared two cases of supraventricular tachycardia with Columbus™ and introduced the advantages of the 3D mapping system in the treatment of AVNRT based on the his clinical experience: 1. reduced X-ray exposure for patients, which will benefit for some special groups of people such as pregnant women and children; 2. real-time display of two vertical visions of ABL catheter, which would improve the safety of the operation and lower the occurrence of complications, to help beginners of EP operations; 3. memory function of target points, which could reduce operation time and improve efficiency; 4. the 3D system has functions like activation map, anatomy map, and displays different visions of cardiac chambers at the same time, which makes the operation much easier; 5. clear mark of positions such as His, coronary sinus, valve annulus, etc., which could reduce the occurrence rate of complications and improve efficiency.
Professor Yuegang Wang said: "As an edge tool in the EP radiofrequency ablation, the 3D navigation system has been recognized by an increasingly more physicians and has brought benefit to a lot of arrhythmia patients." Columbus™ is China's first domestically developed 3D EP navigation system that features real time electromagnetic device tracking with cardiac motion compensation, which fills gaps in the field of domestically made EP devices and effectively lowers the medical cost for patients. As the only domestic company that provides a complete solution of cardiac EP treatment, MicroPort® EP will continue to strive for innovation and perfection to provide better arrhythmia solutions for patients and physicians.