- Image Source: TransWorld Heart Corporation’s Website
TransWorld Heart Corporation of Charlotte, NC, was founded by Dr. Charles Richardson in 2004. The company developed an implantable device intended to replace routine post-transplant heart biopsies.
TransWorld’s Soul Mate implantable system analyzes 9 intramyocardial electrogram parameters recorded from 4 or 6 configurations of 2 or 3 epicardial leads to detect allograft rejection.
Results of an animal study on 5 dogs published in 2009 concluded that “the Soul Mate allograft rejection monitoring system accurately detected transplanted heart rejection in a canine model noninvasively with continuous sampling. This proof-of-concept study suggests that the Soul Mate could be used to more intensely and more frequently monitor cardiac allografts for rejection.” (Circulation. 2009;120[suppl 1]:S185–S190.)
In January 2010, TransWorld Medical announced that it was intending to raise capital to fund the development and clinical testing of other medical-devices. Dr. Richardson stated that “The company’s TransWorld Heart Corp. unit initially focused on its heart-transplant device, the Soul Mate. But company officials saw the potential for other medical equipment with similar rejection-monitoring capabilities.”
TransWorld Heart’s website is at: transworldmed.com/transworldheart/
Click here for the patents on the Soul Mate device (assigned to LifeScience Solutions, TransWorld’s parent company)
Click here for paper: T. Horay, et al., “Novel Implantable Device to Detect Cardiac Allograft Rejection”, Circulation. 2009;120[suppl 1]:S185–S190.