By Express News Service CHENNAI: Abbott Healthcare launched a new product in the segment of Electrophysiology at Madras Medical Mission (MMM). The product is a sensor-enabled mapping catheter used for high-density monitoring in patients. The technology facilitates improved data collection, supporting optimal treatment for patients with complex cardiac arrhythmias or rhythm disorder. This new technology will enable physicians to create highly detailed maps of the heart that differentiate healthy tissue from unhealthy ones. “For the patient, this will lead to an improved quality of life, reduction on repeated ablations and reduced procedure time,” said Dr Ullhas M Pandurangi, chief, department of cardiac electrophysiology and pacing at MMM. “While the conventional products were not bad, there was an inherent limitation. Physicians had to try and test the other devices as they were not as sophisticated as this product. With this product, the scope for error and the margin of error is very minimal. Physicians can localise accurately the source of the problem.” He went on to add that conventional methods required X-ray guided fluoroscopy that meant exposure to radiation that was above the safe limit. However, this aspect is significantly reduced with this product, Dr Ullhas said. “The safety and radiation factor are the biggest positives. Such technology will increase the success rate. While conventional products are around `1.5-`2 lakh, this would be about `1 lakh more. But, the cost is compensated with the increased success rate,” he said. The doctor spoke at length about Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) and how it can cause sudden death. In these cases, he said there is no room for error and most often, the best device for treatment is a defibrillator which can cost between `5-`10 lakh. “This kind of therapy is expensive. So, we needed something that was between drugs and devices,” he said. “While the defibrillator is the best to treat VT, affordability plays a huge factor. Conventional ablation therapy can be uncomfortable but with this technology, we can manage VT more effectively too.” Even for people with Atrial fibrillation (AF) he said the HD grid will change the game — it will allow for physicians to ablate more confidently on AF patients.

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