One of the challenges facing heart doctors is working with people having congenital heart disease (CHD). It’s a growing problem that involves unique issues. Though CHD is usually associated with children, a recent article by Michael O’Riordan in Clinical Cardiology (http://dtg.fm/5AjT) references a report indicating that the frequency of hospitalizations among adults for congenital defects has grown twice as fast as for children, with annual adult admissions now over a third of total CHD admissions. Among other factors, people who used to die young from such problems are now often living well into adulthood. The result is a growing burden on the healthcare system.
Accurate analysis of the heart can be a difficult and expensive process, and involves special issues dealing with the many children afflicted with the disease. Adding to the problem is the fact that people with CHD almost always have right heart defect, which can pose special challenges for accurate analysis. The unconventional shape, position, and size of the right ventricle has made it difficult to obtain reliable data regarding pump volume and cardiac function.
VentriPoint Diagnostics, a Canadian-based medical device company, offers what could be a breakthrough solution to the problems of accurate and comprehensive heart function analysis. The company’s new imaging system, called “Angelo,” is the only software available that offers comprehensive 3D imaging as quickly and cost-effectively, including the right heart. The system uses anatomical “dots” to build a 3D model of the heart, calculating such functional information as heart volumes, cardiac output, and ejection fraction, all within only 10 minutes, using conventional 2D ultrasound input.
The technology is based upon a patented approach known as knowledge-based reconstruction. The software can be added to any 2D ultrasound equipment, providing results that are faster, easier, and less expensive than any other heart assessment techniques. For both patients and doctors dealing with CHD, it offers new hope, and has already been approved for congenital heart disease application in Canada and Europe, with clinical trials currently finishing up in the U.S.
For more information, visit www.ventripoint.com
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