Image Credit: Vectorius Medical
Vectorius Medical was founded in 2011 in the RadBioMed incubator in Tel-Aviv, Israel. It developed the V-LAP implantable device for the measurement of Left Atrial Filling Pressure (LAP).
The device is implanted in the left atrium, has no battery, and is able to communicate with an external interrogator from deep within the body using high-resolution waveform morphology. According to Vectorius Medical:
“Since the pressure of the heart’s left atrium is the earliest and most accurate real-time indication of heart failure exacerbation, the actionable feedback provided by the V-LAP will enable a significant improvement in ongoing management of heart failure patients. Once patients are implanted with the V-LAP, they will be able to measure left atrial pressure (LAP) daily at home via an easy, non-invasive method using a small, portable external unit.
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Left atrial pressure has been scientifically established as the most specific physiological indication for heart failure exacerbation. Approximately 90% of patients admitted to the hospital for heart failure have pulmonary congestion related to elevated left atrial filling pressure (LAP). The increase of LAP is the earliest sign of impending heart failure exacerbation – long before clinical symptoms occur.”
The Vectorius system is intended to provide daily readings patient hemodynamic pressure to provide early, accurate physiological indication of cardiac decompensation. Physicians can access data through a Cloud-based system.
On February 4, 2019, Vectorius announced the initiation of the VECTOR-HF First-in-Human (FIH) clinical trial, and the successful first ‘in-human’ implantation of the V-LAP monitoring device. According to Vectorius Medical:
“Implantation of the device in this first “In-Human” trial was completed in just six minutes. It was fixated within the patient’s interatrial septum of the heart using a standard minimally-invasive percutaneous procedure under fluoroscopy and echocardiographic guidance, with the application of local anesthesia.”
Vectorius’ website is at: http://vectoriousmedtech.com