Spectranetics has announced that the company will have a major presence to showcase their proprietary laser lead extraction technology and training at the Heart Rhythm 2013 congress in Denver, USA.
A full day of the congress is dedicated to a Lead Management Forum, offering attendees the opportunity to explore practical aspects of lead development, implantation, follow up and extraction.
Programme highlights include:
- Simulated cardiac lead laser extraction procedures in a replicated surgical suite in the exhibit booth of Spectranetics. Over the three days of the conference, physicians will train on the equipment in both foundational and advanced scenarios to increase their proficiency in lead extraction techniques.
- Physician speakers and round table in the Spectranetics Booth 1602:
-Thursday, 9 May, 10.00 am – Steven P Kutalek, associate professor, Drexler University Hospital and Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. “What to do when you can’t advance”
-Thursday, 9 May, 3.30 pm – John A Andriulli, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, USA. “Considerations for extracting sprint fidelis and riata leads”
-Friday, 10 May, 10.00 am – Round Table Discussion led by Dale Yoo. “Starting a program: Successful lead management from the ground up”
- On Thursday, 9 May an abstract session – Simulation Training Efficacy to Improve Extraction Performance (STEEP) – will be presented by a team led by Melanie Matin.
In addition, the First Annual Worldwide Lead Management Collaborative Community Meeting hosted in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Clinic will take place on Wednesday 8 May, immediately preceding the opening of the HRS conference. Lead recalls and infected systems will be highlighted as key topics of interest.
According to Tom Daily, director of training, Spectranetics, the training sessions at the Heart Rhythm Society conference and the year-round training offered by a mobile simlator unit respond to the needs of growing ranks of physicians performing lead extraction. “Over 4.5 million people worldwide have an implanted cardiac device, and one million new leads are implanted annually,” said Daily. “Since their inception 50 years ago, these devices have improved quality of life and extended the longevity of many patients, often extending beyond the expected lifespan of the device itself. There are any number of reasons why leads may need to be removed, and Spectranetics is committed to providing the tools for safe, predictable lead extraction.”
In the past year, Spectranetics has hosted 19 simulator events and trained 378 physicians. The company expects to double both the number of events and physician trainings in 2013.
The original Laser Lead Extraction Simulator was developed in partnership with Medical Simulation Corporation (MSC) in conjunction with MSC’s SimSuite simulation technology platform.
