Tag Archives: heart

Cardiology, Diagnostics, Healthcare, Healthcare Services, Healthcare Software, Healthcare Solutions

MEDIS expands into new areas of cardiovascular disease with the acquisition of Italian medtech company AMID

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LEIDEN, Netherlands, 11-May-2020 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — MEDIS, a leading developer and supplier of software applications for image-based diagnosis and quantitative assessment of cardiovascular disease, today announced that it acquired Advanced Medical Imaging Development S.r.l. (AMID), a developer and supplier specialized in cardiovascular mechanics and innovative image processing in ultrasound and other modalities. The strategic acquisition will expedite MEDIS’ expansion in new areas of cardiovascular disease, and secure MEDIS’ access to key technologies to further enhance its innovative portfolio of post-processing solutions for X-ray, MR, CT, IVUS, OCT and US devices.

The acquisition of AMID, based in Sulmona (Italy), will further increase MEDIS’ share in the cardiovascular market. “This acquisition expands our product portfolio and brings in new sales channels. The combination of AMID’s products with our product and services portfolio will enable us to provide our customers a unique and more complete multi-modal offering for cardiovascular imaging analysis”, said Hans Brons, CEO of MEDIS.

“As part of MEDIS we will have significantly more leverage to position our portfolio of innovative technologies in the global market for cardiovascular imaging software,” commented Giovanni Tonti, CEO of AMID. “Our technology offerings will allow MEDIS to complement and further enhance its already impressive suite of clinical offerings and spur innovation.”

“MEDIS and AMID have already had an excellent cooperation for over five years, both commercially and in product development. I am very excited about our access to the unique know-how and innovative power of AMID’s founders and their technology, and to intensify the cooperation leading to new solutions that ultimately will benefit the patients“ says Hans Reiber, founder and CSO of MEDIS.

MEDIS will leverage AMID’s proprietary state-of-the-art software and know-how to provide even more sophisticated cardiac and cardiovascular imaging software solutions to its customers. “The integration of both companies will take place over the next months. We expect to significantly strengthen our power to innovate and are very excited about our new relationships with AMID’s existing OEMs and sales channels” added Hans Brons. “Our new customers will continue to receive the same high quality of service which they have come to expect.”

AMID, which will continue to operate under that name is now a wholly owned subsidiary of MEDIS.

Over the last 6 months Van Herk Ventures has made significant further equity investments in MEDIS with the aim to help accelerate the growth of the company and to enable the acquisition of AMID.

“With this investment, Van Herk Ventures enables us to further expand on our position as an independent vendor of high specialty software and a leader in this industry,” stated Hans Brons, CEO of MEDIS.

“We have been intrigued by the broad spectrum of innovations in the cardiovascular imaging domain that MEDIS has created and commercialized over the years, and in particular the more recent exciting and disruptive opportunities in the field of interventional cardiology.

MEDIS has been recognized worldwide as a company that develops high quality software, listening to the needs of the clinicians and researchers and supporting them with new and expanded applications. We believe that there is a great upwards potential in MEDIS and we like to stimulate these developments and see the company grow to the next level. We are therefore very excited about the MEDIS acquisition of AMID,” said Dharminder Chahal, managing director of Van Herk Ventures.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Cardiology, Healthcare, Healthcare Software

Medis: The new 4D Flow Module reduces the complexity of HeartMRI scans substantially

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LEIDEN, Netherlands, 4-Nov-2019 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — Innovative cardiovascular imaging technology solutions developer Medis today announced a new module for the company’s Medis Suite MR. The new 4D Flow module is intuitive and easy to use, and provides essential, practical tools to enable 4D flow to be incorporated into clinical routine and to allow the measurement of flow volumes from a single 4D flow scan instead of multiple 2D flow scans – reducing complexity and easing the process.

“With 2D flow scans, reconstructions must be planned while the patient is on the table,” said Hans Brons, CEO. “For complex scan protocols, this can be tedious and challenging – and the post-processing can be both time-consuming and complex. With the help of this new module for Medis Suite MR, it is now possible to acquire flow in 4D from a single scan and to create flow plane reconstructions retrospectively, allowing the complexity of HeartMRI scans to be reduced substantially – and also reducing the time it takes. This is especially relevant for paediatric HeartMRI units as well as units scanning patients with grown up congenital heart disease.”

Among its numerous differentiators, the new module is advantaged by its ease of use with an intuitive GUI, as well as single click noise removal and single click background offset correction.

As well as reducing the time taken, the new 4D Flow module supports the experienced MR technician in being more effective, more productive and able to deliver better diagnostic information. In addition to reducing the time taken, the new module is straightforward to learn and use for measuring flows in a variety of vessels, allowing the efficient incorporation of 4D Flow post processing in daily clinical practice.

The new 4D Flow module for Medis Suite MR is part of a wide-ranging suite of enhancements for the platform, including the 3D View module – further reducing the time needed for post-processing. In the 3D View module, a double caliper has been added for simple measurements. In addition, loading speed has been increased and it is now also possible to create straightened CPRs (curved planar reformats). Finally, Medis Suite AutoQ pre-processing can now be enabled to run autonomously, initiating Deep Learning contour detection and other advanced algorithms automatically.

Based on over 15 years of experience with cardiac MR, and over 30 years of cardiovascular medical image analysis in general, Medis Suite MR is a vendor-independent post-processing solution for HeartMRI cases. The workflow in Medis Suite MR includes a practical HeartMRI viewer, advanced clinical applications and convenient reporting all in one, making it highly efficient to work with. Seamlessly embedded in the workflow are advanced clinical applications considered best-in-class by many, such as the renowned QMass® and QFlow® applications. In addition, highly innovative and cutting edge research apps such as QStrain RE and QMap RE are also integrated.

Able to run on any workstation, Medis Suite MR is simple to integrate within the hospital IT environment. Connecting it to the DICOM network is straightforward.

4DFlow is cleared for market in the US Market. Clearance approvals for Australia, Brazil, Canada and Europe are pending.

Further information on Medis and its products is available at https://www.medis.nl/

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, Critical Care, Healthcare, Healthcare Professionals, Healthcare Services, Hospitals, Society

Clinical Trial Studies New Treatment For High-Risk Heart Patients

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A clinical trial under way at the East Carolina Heart Institute is testing the benefit of a new medical device designed to help high-risk people suffering from leaky heart valves.

Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood Jr., director of the Heart Institute and professor of cardiovascular surgery at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, secured the clinical trial for the MitraClip System for the treatment of mitral valve regurgitation (MR). A serious heart condition, MR can lead to arrhythmias and congestive heart failure if left untreated.

Dr. Curtis Anderson, a cardiothoracic surgeon and assistant professor of cardiovascular sciences, and Dr. Ramesh Daggubati, a cardiologist and clinical professor at Brody, collaborated to perform mitral valve repairs on two patients at Pitt County Memorial Hospital without making the traditional incision in the center of the chest to access the heart. Chitwood joined Drs. Rajasekhar Nekkanti and John Cahill, ECU cardiologists, to assist in the procedure.

In each case, the multidisciplinary team of cardiologists and surgeons placed a thin catheter in the patient’s groin vessel, guided a tiny clip through the heart’s septum and placed the clip between the leaflets of the valve to stop the leak.

“With mitral insufficiency, we normally use the heart/lung machine to either repair or replace the valve,” Chitwood said. “This new procedure is catheter-based, and can be used in high-risk patients who wouldn’t do well on the heart/lung machine. These patients have severe symptoms stemming from the leaky valve and can’t be operated on safely any other way.”

Chitwood said this new procedure “gives the East Carolina Heart Institute an entirely new set of tools for mitral valve repairs in high-risk patients. It is the least invasive way that we can fix a valve. Centers selected to perform these procedures have demonstrated expertise in applying new medical technology under FDA (Food and Drug Administration) guidelines.”

With the clip, patients leave the hospital the next day and within two or three days return to normal activities – or, in many cases, better-than-normal activities.

“Most of the patients are very sick,” said Daggubati, a clinical associate professor of cardiovascular sciences. “Medical management is the only option for them because surgeons consider the risk too high and the patients inoperable.”

Anderson said patient selection is the key to a successful outcome.

“I think a lot of patients with heart failure will be attractive candidates for this device,” he said, adding that collaboration among physicians is vital. “We want patients to have the confidence of knowing that cardiologists and cardiac surgeons are working side by side to give them the best possible outcomes.”

The mitral valve is a one-way valve that connects the left atrium to the left ventricle of the heart. With mitral valve regurgitation, the valve does not seal completely, and blood leaks back into the left atrium. This reversed flow can cause heart and lung damage, as well as death. Symptoms may include an audible heart murmur, shortness of breath and heart palpitations.

About the East Carolina Heart Institute
The East Carolina Heart Institute is a unique partnership that includes University Health Systems Pitt County Memorial Hospital and East Carolina University, along with cardiovascular experts in private practice, academic medicine and research. The East Carolina Heart Institute is the first in North Carolina devoted exclusively to education, research, treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

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Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, Critical Care, Healthcare, Healthcare Professionals, Healthcare Services, Hospitals, Society

Officials From East Carolina University And University Health Systems Of Eastern Carolina Dedicated The East Carolina Heart Institute Today

Officials from East Carolina University and University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina dedicated the East Carolina Heart Institute today. Several hundred invited guests joined leaders from the two organizations to celebrate the facility. The Heart Institute puts ECU and Pitt County Memorial Hospital “at the forefront of progress and the cutting edge of the future,” said Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, director of the East Carolina Heart Institute.

“What we dedicate today is a concept called the East Carolina Heart Institute that encompasses these new facilities, dedicated to the people of this region, and to the physicians, researchers, educators and staff devoted to their care,” said Chitwood, who is cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. He is also senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences at ECU.

The dedication ceremony, held at the East Carolina Heart Institute at ECU, capped more than four years of work to bring a world-class cardiovascular disease institute to eastern North Carolina. In 2004, the General Assembly approved $60 million for a research, education and outpatient care facility at ECU. Pitt County Memorial Hospital secured private funding for a $160 million bed tower. Today, leaders from the two organizations celebrated the end of construction on both facilities.

Many who attended the ceremony also toured the two facilities after the event ended. The crowd included local and state officials, donors and other friends of each organization.

The celebration marked “the most significant collaboration University Health Systems and East Carolina University have ever undertaken,” said UHS CEO Dave McRae. “It’s the biggest step of a journey we started more than 30 years ago, when a small county hospital and a fledgling medical school committed to forming the world-class academic medical center we’re part of today,” McRae said.

ECU and PCMH have been “joined at the hip” for decades, ECU Chancellor Steve Ballard said. “The East Carolina Heart Institute is the latest partnership between us, and it will make a major and lasting impact in eastern North Carolina, the entire state and beyond,” Ballard said.

The new buildings aren’t the only sign of a new approach to heart disease for ECU and PCMH. The two organizations have also redefined their model for treating cardiovascular illnesses. Both have organized their clinical staffs around illnesses and disease processes, rather than following a traditional model based on academic specialties. That new model encourages more information-sharing among doctors and puts new emphasis on patients’ best interests, Chitwood said. “This new model of care delivery is an innovative way to blend the science and art of medicine so that we add value to the patient,” Chitwood said.

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease in North Carolina justifies the massive investment in treating and researching heart and vascular illnesses. Cardiovascular disease is the second-leading cause of death in the state, and nearly a quarter of N.C. residents suffer from cardiovascular ailments.

Planning for the East Carolina Heart Institute dates to early 2003. ECU and PCMH held a groundbreaking for the Heart Institute in March 2006. In addition to the six-story 375,000-square-foot bed tower, the Heart Institute at Pitt County Memorial Hospitalspawned a pair of companion projects: construction of a massive central utility plant to power the new building and the relocation of Moye Boulevard.

The Heart Institute at Pitt County Memorial Hospital has 120 cardiovascular beds, six operating rooms, seven interventional laboratories, three electrophysiology labs and a heart-healthy cafeteria, all designed to create the optimal patient care environment.

The four-story, 206,000-square-foot East Carolina Heart Institute at ECU houses science and clinical research, robotic-surgery training, future space for simulation laboratories, a clinical outpatient facility for cardiovascular diseases, a database center, offices and an auditorium.

The Heart Institute at Pitt County Memorial Hospital will open Jan. 5. ECU physicians have been seeing patients at the East Carolina Heart Institute at ECU since September. For more information please visit www.eastcarolinaheartinstitute.com

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