SCOTTSDALE, AZ — HonorHealth’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence at Scottsdale Shea Medical Center got the Genesis Robotic Magnetic Navigation System earlier this year.
Since then, they’ve better treated several patients with both complex and routine heart arrhythmias.
“The original form of this technology was a little clunky, I mean, I have to say, and so it was pretty much reserved for more of these very complex, or perhaps difficult to reach manually, kind of cases,” said HonorHealth cardiologist Dr. Rahul Doshi. “This newer system is just easier to use. It's more streamlined. It's more responsive.”
What it does, in layman’s terms, is minimally invasive procedures to treat abnormal heartbeats, for example, when the heart beats too quickly, too slowly, or has an irregular pattern.
If not treated, that could increase the chance of stroke, heart failure, and sudden cardiac arrest.
This new robotic system performs ablation procedures where doctors direct large magnets from a computer to pull a catheter to different areas of the heart to treat the heart rhythm issue.
“We're moving a catheter that delivers some form of energy. Usually, it's high-frequency radio waves to basically burn, or cauterize, or whatever you want to call it, abnormal cardiac tissue that’s responsible for some abnormal electrical rhythms,” said Dr. Doshi.
Dr. Doshi explained the system makes the surgery easier on the doctor performing it because it’s less physically straining to sit at a computer than over a patient on the operating table for hours. It also keeps those doctors out of the radiation field.
It’s also safer for patients who have more complex and challenging arrhythmias to treat.
“It translates to better patient care, safety, and it's also the excitement of what's coming because we still think that this is very much in the infancy of what these things can do,” Dr. Doshi said.
He said the next progression of this technology is ideally for automation, so the machine can work by itself, although the industry is still about a year or two out from that advancement.