St. Jude Medical launches 3-D navigation system that reduces need for live fluoroscopy

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced the launch of its MediGuide™ Technology, the first and only three-dimensional (3-D) navigation system intended for the evaluation of vascular and cardiac anatomy on a recorded fluoroscopic image instead of live fluoroscopy (a series of X-ray images). The use of recorded images allows physicians to reduce the duration of radiation exposure during cardiovascular procedures, revolutionizing medical imaging procedures in the electrophysiology (EP) lab.

“This revolutionary system reduces the need for live fluoroscopy, while providing unprecedented views inside the heart, improving complex cardiac resynchronization therapy and cardiac ablation image-guided procedures for physicians, patients and medical staff around the world.”

"The launch of MediGuide Technology is significant as it allows clinicians to perform cardiac procedures with less fluoroscopy and the corresponding exposure to harmful radiation," said Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, M.D., cardiologist at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., the first medical facility in the U.S. to use the MediGuide Technology system. "This revolutionary system reduces the need for live fluoroscopy, while providing unprecedented views inside the heart, improving complex cardiac resynchronization therapy and cardiac ablation image-guided procedures for physicians, patients and medical staff around the world."

Similar to a global positioning system (GPS) that automobile drivers use to determine the location of their car on a map, MediGuide Technology allows physicians to see the precise location and orientation of MediGuide Enabled™ devices inside the heart. Using magnetic tracking to locate miniature sensors embedded in devices, such as the MediGuide Enabled™ Livewire™ Diagnostic Catheter and the CPS Excel™ MediGuide Enabled™ Guidewire, this technology applies 3-D visualization to previously recorded fluoroscopic images in real-time. Automatic adjustments are made to the recorded images to maintain an accurate real-time clinical representation compensating for cardiac motion, respiratory changes and patient movements in order to minimize workflow delays.

"MediGuide Technology is the only real-time cardiac navigation and visualization platform that allows physicians to reduce fluoroscopy during cardiac procedures," said Frank J. Callaghan, president of the St. Jude Medical Cardiovascular and Ablation Technologies Division. "St. Jude Medical continues to be committed to developing technologies that minimize radiation exposure in the EP lab, improve procedural repeatability and increase clinical and economic efficiency."

Worldwide, physicians perform several billion radiation-based imaging studies annually, approximately one-third of which are in cardiovascular patients. According to the American Heart Association, the collective dose of ionizing radiation that patients annually received during medical tests increased among the general population an estimated 600 percent between 1980 and 2006. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in human exposure to ionizing radiation.

MediGuide Technology integrates the Artis zee™ angiography systems, an innovative line of interventional radiology and cardiology imaging devices, from Siemens Healthcare. Combined, the technologies provide improved navigation during EP procedures.