Philips collaborates with Bard Electrophysiology to advance cardiac
arrhythmia treatment
31 January 2009
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) has announced an
agreement with Bard Electrophysiology, a division of CR Bard, Inc., to
co-develop new clinical tools that will be designed to help
electrophysiologists meet the need for advanced tool to treat patients
suffering from arrhythmias.
Challenging heart rhythm disorders, or arrhythmias, require
electrophysiology (EP) technologies to pinpoint and ultimately fix
problem areas within the heart’s electrical circuitry during an
interventional procedure. As EP procedure volume increases worldwide,
clinicians are requesting intuitive, advanced tools to help shorten
procedure times and gain detailed visualizations for interventions.
Cardiac arrhythmia can lead to serious health risks, including heart
failure or stroke. Atrial fibrillation — a heart rhythm disorder
characterized by irregular, rapid beating of the atrial chambers — is
found in about 2.2 million Americans and 4.5 million Europeans. With
robust EP technologies, clinicians may be better able to evaluate and
diagnose abnormalities in the heart’s electrical activity.
The goal of the combination of Bard’s LabSystemPRO EP Recording
System and Philips’ EP navigator and the Allura Xper FD series is to
provide electrophysiologists a faster and easier way to integrate image
guidance with mapping and analysis of complex arrhythmias, while
offering insights for more accurate interventional navigation. EP
physicians and lab staff may also benefit from improved workflow in the
EP lab due to integration and compatibility between Philips and Bard
technologies.
"Providing simpler and more intuitive approaches to the management of
complex arrhythmias is something that fascinates me. Significant
advancement in science and technology is frequently made when two
seemingly dissimilar techniques are merged. The collaboration between
Bard Electrophysiology and Philips is very promising, and I am looking
forward to learning more about the potential for these new technologies
in my practice," said Michael V Orlov, MD, PhD, director of Arrhythmia
Service at Caritas St Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston and an
associate professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.
“Philips is dedicated to simplifying heart rhythm care. The
relationship with Bard exemplifies our strategy of collaborating with
best-in-class companies to develop solutions that address the needs of
the electrophysiologists and their patients,” said Gerard Winkels, vice
president and general manager, Electrophysiology, for Philips
Healthcare. “The collaboration with Bard Electrophysiology will allow us
to bring new clinical tools to market aiming to enable our joint
customers to perform EP procedures faster and more simply and allow them
to provide enhanced care offerings for their patients.”
Dave Hemink, vice president and general manager, Bard
Electrophysiology said, “This alliance will provide us the opportunity
to fundamentally impact the way that we analyze and diagnose complex
arrhythmias. We recognize that current solutions are complex and time
consuming. Together with Philips, we will innovate towards simpler
approaches to these clinical challenges, with a focus on helping
healthcare providers’ EP labs achieve greater business potential through
expanded functionality and improved efficiencies.”
Bookmark this page