Stereotaxis Introduces New Robotic Navigation System

St Louis, Mo.-based Stereotaxis Inc. has introduced its Stereotaxis Vdrive robotic navigation system with V-Loop variable loop catheter manipulator to the United States via Tucson Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz.

With the Vdrive system, physicians can reportedly operate the hand controls of common diagnostic and therapeutic catheters from a control room during a cardiac ablation procedure. The Vdrive with V-Loop system, which received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance in September last year, is designed to remotely control the advancement, retraction, rotation, tip deflection and loop size of a compatible circular mapping catheter.

“We are excited and proud to be the first to offer this impressive innovation in the U.S. and particularly to the residents of Southern Arizona,” said Darren Peress, M.D., medical director of the electrophysiology (EP) lab at Tucson Medical Center (TMC). “The Vdrive with V-Loop system enables me to achieve greater stability and maneuverability of the circular mapping catheter during cardiac ablation and potentially improve acute success with even my most complex cases of persistent arrhythmia.”

The EP Lab at TMC has used Stereotaxis remote magnetic navigation technology in cardiac rhythm management since 2008. In early 2013, the hospital upgraded to the Stereotaxis Epoch solution, which includes the latest generation remote magnetic navigation system, the Niobe ES, the Odyssey user interface and the Vdrive robotic navigation system, which first became available in the United States last year. Over the past six years, TMC has become the largest cardiac ablation program in the region.

“I will not conduct complex EP procedures without the Stereotaxis platform,” said Peress, who completes an average four to five complex ablations each week. “I trust it to outperform my own hands in precision and safety every time.”

Stereotaxis makes robotic cardiology instrument navigation systems designed to treat arrhythmias and coronary disease