Rhythm AI, developer of the Star Apollo mapping software, has announced the appointment of Mike Dineen as chief executive officer (CEO). Dineen brings more than 30 years of medtech experience as a founder, operator, and commercial leader, with a proven track record of advancing cardiovascular technologies from early development through regulatory clearance, market launch, and successful acquisition, a company press release states.
Prior to joining Rhythm AI, Dineen served as co-founder and CEO of Tioga Cardiovascular—a Shifamed portfolio company developing a transcatheter mitral valve replacement system. Before Tioga, he was CEO of Kalila Medical—also a Shifamed portfolio company—where he led the organisation from early-stage prototype through regulatory approvals, commercial product launch, and a successful acquisition by Abbott. Prior to Kalila, Dineen held senior leadership roles at a number of cardiovascular and surgical medtech companies, including vice president of business development at Maya Medical (Covidien/Medtronic), vice president of marketing at Aragon Surgical (Aesculap), and vice president of marketing at Concentric Medical (Stryker). Dineen is also a named inventor on more than 60 issued US patents.
“In three decades in medtech, I have learned to recognise when a technology is truly differentiated, and Star Apollo is that technology: clinically meaningful, commercially differentiated, and built to integrate seamlessly into the infrastructure that already exists in EP [electrophysiology] labs worldwide,” Dineen commented. “My focus will be to accelerate adoption, generate the clinical evidence that drives broad physician uptake, and position Star Apollo as the essential intelligence layer for AF [atrial fibrillation] ablation globally. Building the right partnerships and commercial infrastructure will be critical to achieving that vision, and delivering the technology to the patients and physicians who need it most.”
Dineen joins Rhythm AI at a “pivotal moment” in the company’s trajectory towards commercialisation, having recently announced receipt of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its Star Apollo mapping system that is compatible with Johnson & Johnson’s Carto 3 mapping system—adding to its existing and previously announced clearance with Abbott’s EnSite X EP system.
According to Rhythm AI, Star Apollo provides a precise, patient-specific map of where AF originates by identifying patterns of activation, enabling physicians to build ablation strategies that are targeted, discrete and efficient. With compatibility now established across the two most widely used 3D mapping platforms in clinical practice, Rhythm AI says it is positioned to accelerate its US rollout and expand physician access.
“Rhythm AI is at an important inflection point, and Mike brings exactly the combination of skills and experience Rhythm AI needs at this stage: deep cardiovascular expertise, a track record of building and scaling commercial-stage medtech companies, and a genuine understanding of what electrophysiologists need in the EP lab,” said Richard Schilling, founder and chairman of Rhythm AI.
