Mapping platform to help treat cardiac arrhythmias

TORONTO – Abbott announced it has introduced in Canada the EnSite X EP System with EnSite Omnipolar Technology (OT), a new cardiac mapping platform designed to help physicians better treat abnormal heart rhythms, also known as cardiac arrhythmias. This new platform allows for the creation of a 3D model of the patient’s cardiac anatomy in real-time, improving how physicians identify and then treat areas of the heart where abnormal rhythms originate.

Kingston Health Sciences Centre in Kingston, Ontario, is the first hospital in Canada to use the new cardiac mapping system in a clinical setting.

“As with all matters of the heart, the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias is often complex and challenging. Abbott’s new Ensite X mapping system not only supports the safe and effective treatment of our patients, but it allows us to locate an arrhythmia faster and more accurately, in some cases shaving hours off of procedure times,” said Dr. Damian Redfearn (pictured), clinical lead, arrhythmia, Kingston Health Sciences Centre.

Increasingly, physicians are turning to cardiac ablation to treat cardiac arrhythmias because – unlike medication – the therapy treats the condition at the source by disrupting the area of the heart generating abnormal heart beats. Cardiac mapping is critical to successful ablation therapy because highly precise, accurate and detailed images of the heart allow physicians to determine the best location to deploy therapy safely and effectively.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common arrhythmia the EnSite X EP System with EnSite OT can help treat, is an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm that can lead to blood clots in the heart. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, approximately 200,000 Canadians have AF. If left untreated, arrhythmias like AF may eventually lead to heart failure or stroke.

Abbott’s proprietary EnSite OT was researched and tested in Toronto, Ontario, in partnership with the Nanthakumar Laboratory, a research lab at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network (UHN). It has the ability to map one million points in the heart, accurately representing each heartbeat and providing precise location of required treatment areas.

“EnSite is the result of years of collaboration between Abbott and our team at UHN. Our combined efforts have yielded a best-in-class cardiac mapping system that can help cardiologists across the country better identify and treat cardiac patients by creating real-time, stable, three-dimensional models of the heart,” said Dr. Kumaraswamy Nanthakumar, MD, FRCPC, clinician scientist, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and senior scientist, UHN. “We are proud that this technology is finally ready to be used every day to help the thousands of people across the country with disabling heart rhythms who need surgical intervention.”

Since 2014, Dr. Nanthakumar’s team at the Thomas I. (Toby) Hull Centre of Excellence in Heart Rhythm Disease at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, has worked tirelessly to prove the science behind the OT and define the clinical applications to be easily understood and utilized by electrophysiologists. Dr. Nanthakumar worked closely with engineers and scientists from Abbott, to bring the EnSite OT to life, via software on this next generation cardiac mapping system.

This technology’s assessments of heart rhythms instantly offers physicians critical information including local electrogram amplitude, activation direction, and accurate wave speed.

In designing the EnSite X EP System with EnSite OT, Abbott created the platform to be upgradable via new software, ensuring physicians consistently have access to the latest technology without the need for entirely new systems. In addition, the EnSite X EP System with EnSite OT is the first mapping system that allows physicians to choose between two methods of cardiac visualization.

Traditional mapping systems use either unipolar or bipolar measurement principles. While unipolar measurements have multiple advantages, including direction and speed, bipolar measurements provide local signal measuring to pinpoint areas of concern. The EnSite X EP System with EnSite OT brings the best of both measurement principles together to maximize data collection.

About Cardiac Ablation
When physicians use catheter ablation to treat cardiac arrhythmias, long flexible tools – called catheters – are inserted into the heart to study the arrhythmia and to deliver radio frequency energy. Heat generated from the radio frequency energy disrupts the cells that are creating the abnormal heart rhythm. As a result, this tissue is no longer capable of conducting or sustaining the arrhythmia.

About Abbott
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 113,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. Connect with us at www.abbott.ca, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews.

About the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, established through the generous support of The Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation, is the premier cardiac centre in Canada. Each year, over 163,000 patients receive innovative and compassionate care from a multidisciplinary team who treat some of the most complex cases of heart and vascular disease. Our clinical and research expertise has improved the lives of patients around the world, while we continue to train more cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, and vascular surgeons than any other hospital in Canada. The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is based at Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – all members of University Health Network. For more information, visit www.petermunkcardiaccentre.ca.