New short-term assist device on the horizon
New short-term assist device on the horizon
Compression cuff is a bailout tool
Cardio Technologies of Pine Brook, NJ, is on the brink of releasing its new CardioSupport System. The minimally invasive, fully reversible therapeutic device is intended to be used on a short-term basis, usually for seven to 10 days, in patients with severely compromised heart function.
The system is different from other ventricular assist devices in use in that it employs a soft cuff-like device that is placed around the failing or unbeating heart. It applies external pressure directly to both ventricular chambers of the heart, squeezing it and helping it through its failed or unbeating state. It supports a failing heart until function recovers or until a more-definitive medical therapy can be performed.
To date, the developer has supported studies on use of the external pulsation device only in animals that its representatives say have proven the cuff’s ability to support the heart until additional help is applied.
Researchers from Columbia University in New York City ran a study on canine hearts using the system and concluded that direct cardiac compression is "a feasible alternative form of ventricular assist."1 The same lead author reported on another study, "Nonuniform direct cardiac compression significantly improves the left and right ventricular pressure-generating capability and, in the setting of acute heart failure, can increase CO and mean arterial pressure."2
Eric Rose, MD, a cardiovascular surgeon and chief of surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, has been involved in the animal trials. "The Cardio Support system will be a temporary measure for patients with life-threatening, severe CHF," he says.
"It compresses the heart rhythmically along with the heart beat in order to propel more blood forward and restore cardiac output. Then the heart can either receive therapies that improve its function, or the patient can undergo reparative therapy such as revascularization, or ultimately the heart can be assisted with a longer-lasting device such as an LVAD [left ventricular assist device], or transplant," Rose says.
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