Sense of Touch is needed to navigate the rapid pace of innovation, particularly as current solutions are creating visual overload and more complexity with steeper learning curves
There are many cardiac catheter-based procedures and intra-procedure use cases that could benefit from the technology we are developing but currently we are focusing on the following:
• Fluoroless Transseptal Puncture – Worldwide there are over 800,000 procedures performed annually that require interventional cardiologists (ICs) to cross the cardiac septum with a needle to access the left side of the heart. The complication rate during this maneuver is less than 1% but it can be serious. ICs are also moving towards low/no fluoro workflows that will benefit from haptic feedback.
• Contact Force and Pulsed Field Ablation Procedures – Worldwide there are over 1 million cardiac ablation procedures performed annually that would benefit from haptic feedback indicating stable contact with cardiac tissue.
• Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (LAAO) Procedures – Worldwide there are over 70,000 LAAO procedures that could benefit from haptic feedback during device placement
• Structural Heart Procedures (Valve Repair and Replacement) – Currently there are approximately 31,000 annual procedures worldwide with strong growth prospects especially in the emerging tricuspid and mitral therapy space that could benefit from haptic feedback.
There aren’t currently any commercially available haptic solutions in these markets and cardiologists are using proxies like fluoroscopy, 3D mapping systems and ultrasound which require them to stare up at a 2-dimensional screen while manipulating a catheter handle for hours at a time. This can be challenging as they have many data streams that they must monitor at the same time during a procedure. The integration of haptic feedback will provide improvements in catheter control and faster motor reaction times enabling better manipulation of catheters, guiding sheaths and transseptal needles around critical cardiac structures enabling operators to focus on critical aspects of the procedure. The goal is for these benefits to translate into more efficient procedures and better patient outcomes.