Researchers 3D print hearts to improve LAA operations

Researchers in Australia are creating 3D replicas of patient’s hearts to plan out left atrial appendage closures using Boston Scientific‘s (NYSE:BSX) Watchman device, according to a new report from heartwire. Creating the 3D replica is useful in patients with complicated cardiovascular anatomy, where even advanced imaging methods can make it difficult to quantify the area of the appendage, researchers told heartwire. “The issue is that the structure of the left atrial appendage is very complex, and even if you have a great-quality data set, it’s very difficult to know where the device will fit within the left atrial appendage. The sizing is not straightforward. Within the orifice of the left atrial appendage, it can be hard to decide exactly where the device should go,” lead investigator Dr James Otton told heartwire. The researchers published data on their 3D printing experience in a letter to the editor in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions. In the article, they used data from a CT scan of a 74-year old man to print a 3D heart model before an LAA procedure, according to heartwire. Having a 3D model allowed the physicians to analyze anatomic deformation with the different sizes of the Watchman device. Because they had a physical model, the doctors were able to identify the correct size, stating that if they had functioned off imaging alone, they would have chosen a size that may have been too small...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Cardiac Implants Cardiovascular Clinical Trials Imaging Research & Development Boston Scientific Source Type: news