Heart disease costs $219 billion USD each year and is the leading cause of death in the United States. Significant advances in heart disease care are being made including innovations in drug management, treatment strategies, and therapeutic technologies. Therapeutic technologies, in particular, are becoming an important area of focus for cardiac medical device development.
Next generation cardiac devices place a specific focus on less-invasive care while still delivering strong patient outcomes. We’ll take a closer look at some of these cardiac medical device innovations in this article.
Emerging Trends in Cardiac Medical Device Design to Resolve Patient Care Challenges
Cardiac medical devices play a key role in a cardiac patient’s treatment plan. Those designing medical devices are shifting their efforts towards solutions that overcome common cardiac care challenges.
Challenges include:
- Invasive procedures. Invasive, surgical procedures often require lengthy recovery times, cause patient discomfort and pain, and require long-term follow up care.
- Cost. Cardiac medical devices can be costly and not all facilities may be able to utilize advanced equipment.
- Access to care. Patients with minimal insurance or who live in areas without adequate medical resources can have trouble accessing cardiac treatments.
- Patient Adherence. Patients following their doctors’ treatment plans are difficult to monitor and require the patient to be on board with the plan.
Researchers working in cardiovascular technology are tackling these challenges with:
- Minimally- invasive treatment solutions
- Implantable devices
- Wireless applications
- Leveraging platform technology
Cardiac Medical Device Manufacturing Innovations Addressing Patient Care Challenges
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally and affects an estimated 18 million people each year. Although there have been immense innovations over the last 65 years, there are still improvements to be made in the quality of care, the consistency of health outcomes, and the cost of such treatments.
Medical device companies are rising to this challenge by leveraging new technologies that make cardiac treatments easier to access, more affordable, less invasive, and support proactive, early-stage therapies.
New technologies we’re seeing more of in cardiac instrument designs include:
Surgical Robots
Surgical robots are helping doctors conduct precise medical procedures with greater accuracy and precision. These robots help make surgeries safer, quicker, and often less invasive. Miniature robots may aid in reduced recovery times, improved patient outcomes and surgical success rates.
Navigational Technology
Navigation technology provides surgeons better visibility in a patient’s body while lowering the need for highly invasive surgeries. These sensors most often use electromagnetic fields coupled with a computer connected to imaging equipment to give physicians a clear real-time picture and guidance during surgical procedures. In these systems, Xray fluoroscopy is not relied on for navigation and thus the patient’s exposure to radiation and contrast dye is decreased.
With navigation technology, surgeons are enabled to execute the best treatment for their patient in a timely and less invasive manner.
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Smart Catheters
Smart catheters are minimally invasive devices used to improve care treatments by providing additional information to the physician, and they are being implemented in numerous areas of medicine. They have ultra-thin walls and can be outfitted with various types of navigation technology for faster, highly accurate steerability.
A common application of smart catheters is in ablation procedures..
For cardiac patients, smart catheters are advancing the standard of care in several therapeutic areas, including aortic and vascular mapping, tissue ablation, and device implantation. Smart catheters can simplify navigation within the patient, provide more accurate targeting, and provide a less invasive therapy..
Cardiac Medical Device Developments Designed to Improve Patient Care
Smart Balloon Catheter Systems
Balloon catheters are used in heart treatments to correct irregular heartbeats. They’ve gotten smarter recently, with new sensors and electronics. These features let them treat heart tissue with precision and can measure blood flow, temperature, and changing pressures. Flexible parts make micro-navigations easier and less risky.
Smart balloon catheters are helping to shorten surgery times, lower treatment invasiveness, and increase procedure accuracy.
An example of this technology is the Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP). Intra-aortic balloon pumps, which can be attached to catheters , are used to help the heart pump blood more effectively throughout the body. This is used when a patient’s heart isn’t able to pump enough blood to meet the demands of the body.
IABP therapy is short term and typically remains in place for several days. It helps to stabilize a patient’s heart until a long-term treatment plan can be developed.
Implantable Defibrillators
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) serve as an integral component in the management of heart disease. These devices, implanted within the patient, continuously monitor heart rhythms.
Upon detecting any irregularities, they promptly administer the necessary electrical treatments to readjust the heart’s rhythm, thereby mitigating the risk of life-threatening arrhythmias, thereby mitigating the risk of life-threatening arrhythmias.
ICDs act as a constant safeguard by constantly monitoring the patient’s heartbeat and responding to any irregular heartbeats. These devices are helping to extend and improve the lives of cardiac patients by identifying and mitigating heartbeat irregularities before they can lead to a serious myocardial event.
Smart Pills
Smart pills are small, consumable electronic devices that can monitor what’s going on inside the body and send that information to a nearby device using Bluetooth technology. Smart pills may be a way to ensure the patient is adhering to their prescribed medication schedule and help doctors monitor their health more accurately.
Trust RBC Medical for Cardiac Medical Device Development and Design
Advancing patient care requires cardiac devices that reduces invasiveness, increases procedure accuracy and drives better patient outcomes. At RBC Medical Innovations, we help innovators bring their ideas to life through our proven medical device design solutions.
If your team is driven to innovate the cardiac treatment ecosystem but need help bringing your concept to life, contact the RBC Medical team today.
