Cardiologists Employ Biomedical Engineering to Safeguard Heart Patients

Cardiologists and biomedical engineers have come together again and delivered a device that drastically reduces the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. More than two million Americans have atrial fibrillation, a heart condition in which the atria of the heart quiver, or fibrillate, instead of contracting normally. These patients are five times more likely to have a stroke.

The drug currently used to reduce the risk of stroke in these patients is Coumadin, a blood thinner, which is essentially rat poison. Patients taking Coumadin have to be monitored and have their blood drawn and tested regularly to ensure the drug is not causing any internal damage. This new device basically eliminates the need for these patients to take Coumadin. The parachute-like device is implanted at the opening of the left atrium (where more than ninety percent of clots in these patients occur), using a procedure similar to stent placement in angioplasty. The patients' blood filters through the device, which is able to detect and remove clots. Patients with the implanted device have a 60% less chance of having a stroke than if they were on Coumadin.

More research is being conducted to see if the device can be used to prevent stroke in all patients, not just those with atrial fibrillation. The FDA has yet to approve the use of the device in patients without atrial fibrillation, but clinical trials are ongoing.

I found this article interesting because it relates directly to research I am interested in performing. I plan on being a cardiologist who does engineering research on the side, and seeing the combination of both cardiology (in terms of implantation and biological function of the device) and biomedical engineering (in terms of creating the device) gives me a perspective of what I might one day do.

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