The Watchman Procedure: Preventing Stroke in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is a disease in which the upper two chambers of the heart quiver instead of their normal beating pattern leading to an irregular pulse and blood flow. This is also the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia, which is a leading cause of stroke. Current medications for this problem include blood thinning drugs such as Coumadin in which the heart rate is slowed and brought back to normal. This however, is a dangerous accommodation and must be monitored closely. One new breakthrough, however, in biomedical engineering is a process known as the watchman procedure. This method is a surgical implant at the top of the left atrium that essentially filters the blood of the patient so that the blood will not clot there. The implant is an umbrella type device that is inserted through the groin, and is similar to the angioplasty procedure. It is noted that this new biomedical implant works better than prescription drugs in patients near sixty percent of the time.

This new biomedical breakthrough is important in ways beyond the health and safety of preventing strokes in people who suffer from Atrial Fibrillation. This implant is in essence competing with pharmaceutical companies that produce blood thinning drugs for patients with this arrhythmia. I found this to be interesting because in most cases one would not expect for these to be competitive sectors, but rather cooperative groups. In most biomedical procedures, medications are also necessary in respect to the device being implanted so that they work together to complete a task. In this case however, the watchman procedure would replace the Coumadin in these patients, and also decrease their risk of stroke at a higher rate than the medication.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2005/1203-stopping_strokes.htm