Cardiac arrhythmia is much too common, affecting 2.5 million Americans and costing $6.5 billion in healthcare costs annually. Current therapies, including medicines and catheter ablation, are effective for only a small percentage of patients. If left untreated, cardiac arrhythmia can lead to stroke and heart failure.
Fortunately, CyberHeart, a Fogarty Institute company, has found an effective solution to this problem by developing the first non-invasive robotic ablation treatment for cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and/or ventricular tachycardia.
The startup has made strong strides in the past months:
- CyberHeart’s abstract reporting “First-in-Man Cardiac Radiosurgery for Atrial Fibrillation” has been accepted for the prestigious Heart Rhythm Society meeting that will be held this May in San Francisco. The event is the world’s largest annual meeting of electrophysiologists, cardiologist and medical companies devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias.
- CyberHeart will enter into an agreement with a major national clinical center in Tokyo for clinical development. The site will also serve as a regional training center;
- The company received a seminal patent, underscoring the importance of its technology and value in creating a new technology and therapeutic application (“Heart Tissue Surface Contour based treatment planning” US 9,205,279);
- It received FDA approval to conduct clinical trials for cardiac arrhythmias, which will begin in March at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington D.C.;
- The startup is also raising its second round of funding and is working on a joint-venture partnership in China.
CyberHeart’s software can treat a variety of arrhythmias and cardiovascular conditions, including hypertension, a fast-growing condition and unmet clinical need that carries serious risks for renal and cardiovascular complications and mortality worldwide.
The startup’s technology utilizes its proprietary software, the most accurate robotic radiosurgical system commercially available worldwide, the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System, and the latest in medical imaging. Currently it is developed for use by radiation oncologists, medical physicists, electrophysiologists and cardiac surgeons to non-invasively treat cardiac arrhythmias. The technology is successfully used in an outpatient setting and without anesthesia.
Proof of its successful treatment was recently compiled and presented to the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress by Sarah Avery Long, a Fogarty summer intern who worked closely with CyberHeart. Sarah discussed how CyberHeart’s technology treated refractory hypertension without adverse effects, with a minimally invasive and painless approach. Sarah, a second-year med student at Tulane University, has a passion for cardiac surgery and advancing the field.
CyberHeart was founded by world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon, inventor and entrepreneur Dr. Thomas Fogarty, and venture partner Rod Young; and is led by Dr. Patrick Maguire, a successful medical device and pharmaceutical executive, and former cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon.