Heart Rhythm

Hearts should have normal rhythm to their beats, but when these beats are out of synch, it causes inefficient pumping of blood. Irregular heart arrhythmias occur when the electrical signals that coordinate the heart's beats do not work properly. This can cause beats that are too fast (tachycardia), or too slow (bradycardia). Tachycardias include atrial fibrillation (AFib), supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia (VT). Bradycardias include sick sinus syndrome and conduction block. Electrophysiology arrhythmia treatments include medications, life style changes, and the EP lab interventions of catheter ablation, and implantable pacemakers or defibrillators.

AI cardiology heart artificial intelligence deep learning

The future of cardiology: 5 potentially game-changing AI studies from AHA 2023

AI was one of the biggest stories at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 conference in Philadelphia. Researchers presented new data about heart attack care, voice recognition algorithms, digital stethoscopes and more. 

November 13, 2023
Newsweek ranked the 50 best heart hospitals in the world

10 ways to improve care for in-hospital cardiac arrest

“Nearly 300,000 cardiac arrests occur in hospitals in the United States each year, and only about 25% of people survive to hospital discharge after these types of events,” according to one author of a new analysis published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

November 10, 2023
QDOT MICRO Biosense Webster Johnson and Johnson. The QDOT MICRO catheter is contact force-sensing device designed for temperature-controlled RF ablation. It received CE mark approval in 2020 and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2022. When in the QMODE+ setting, the device delivers high-power ablation for up to four seconds per burst, a feature designed to improve the ablation’s likelihood of success.

Next-gen RF catheter from Biosense Webster improves QOL in patients with paroxysmal AFib

After 12 months, researchers found that the device was associated with control of AFib in 99% of patients and relief from AFib symptoms in 93.1% of patients.

November 2, 2023
Samir Kapadia, MD, Cleveland Clinic, explains the WATCH TAVR study results that combined LAAO with transcatheter aortic valve replacement at TCT 2023. #TCT2023 #TAVR #Watchman #LAAO

TAVR and LAAO at the same time? Samir Kapadia breaks down the WATCH-TAVR trial

Could this late-breaking clinical trial from TCT 2023 be a sign of things to come in the years ahead? Samir Kapadia, MD, explored the topic in a new interview. 

November 2, 2023
Image and caption courtesy of Google. APG sends a low intensity ultrasound transmitting wave (TX wave) using an ANC headphone's speakers and collects the receiving wave (RX wave) via the on-board feedback microphones. The APG signal is a pulse-like waveform that synchronizes with heartbeat and reveals rich cardiac information. Audioplethysmography Google headphones.

Google researchers use noise-canceling headphones to monitor heart health

The new technique, audioplethysmography, can monitor a user’s heart rate and other physiological signals using headphones equipped with active noice canceling technology. It requires no additional sensors.

October 31, 2023
money business cash flow dollar. Kingsway Financial Services, a Chicago-based holding company with subsidiaries in several industries, has acquired New Jersey-based Digital Diagnostics Imaging (DDI) for $11 million. The transaction was funded with $5.4 million in cash and $5.6 million in debt financing.

Holding company acquires heart monitoring specialists Digital Diagnostics Imaging for $11M

DDI currently has contracts with nursing homes and hospitals in 42 states.

October 30, 2023
TCT 2023 San Francisco

PARTNER 3, Evolut and more: TAVR takes the spotlight in 4 late-breaking clinical trials at TCT 2023

All eyes were on TAVR during the first round of late-breaking clinical trials at TCT 2023 in San Francisco. Researchers shared key updates related to devices from Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Boston Scientific and JenaValve Technology.

October 25, 2023
Medtronic extravascular ICD Aurora EV-ICD MRI SureScan

FDA approves Medtronic’s extravascular ICD for abnormal heart rhythms

The Aurora EV-ICD MRI SureScan is similar in size and shape to traditional ICDs, but it is implanted outside of the patient’s heart and veins.

October 24, 2023

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