HRS 2012: Biosense Webster Partners with Imaging Giants for New Product Offering

Johnson & Johnson’s Biosense Webster division, which makes devices for diagnosing and treating cardiac arrhythmias, has formed collaboration agreements with two global imaging companies, GE Healthcare and Siemens Healthcare. GE Healthcare and Siemens Healthcare represent more than 50 percent of the installed base of X-ray systems across the globe.

The announcement was made during the Heart Rhythm Society’s (HRS) 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions, held in Boston, Mass., from May 9-12, 2012.

Diamond Bar, Calif.-based Biosense Webster, Inc. has developed an image integration solution for electrophysiology (EP) labs. This system integrates real-time X-ray images from Siemens Healthcare and GE Healthcare X-ray systems into the company’s Carto 3, a 3-D electro-anatomical mapping and ablation system. Beginning this year, under the terms of the two agreements, Biosense Webster will offer an integrated solution compatible with both manufacturers’ fluoroscopy systems. 

“Minimizing X-ray exposure for patients and clinicians has long been a focus of healthcare technology manufacturers,” said Shlomi Nachman, worldwide president of Biosense Webster’s Cardiovascular Care franchise. “These two important strategic agreements will allow Biosense Webster to address the growing need to combine multiple images from different systems in the EP lab into a single display on our Carto 3 System.”

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent arrhythmia, and is a leading cause of stroke among people 65 years and older. Worldwide, it is estimated that 20 million people have AF, yet only approximately 130,000 are treated with ablation every year. The public health implications of AF are a growing concern because those with AF are at an increased risk of morbidity and mortality as well as a reduced quality of life.

Most patients with AF today are treated with anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) or ablation. During cardiac ablation, energy is delivered through the catheter to those areas of the heart muscle causing the abnormal heart rhythm. This energy “disconnects” the pathway of the abnormal rhythm.