A South Australian medical device to extend the accuracy of heart pacemaker implants is being launched on the $22 billion world cardiac rhythm management market after being rolled out at leading Adelaide hospitals.
The pioneering new 'TorqView' device is the first of its kind, says inventor Darius Chapman, a biomedical engineer and cardiology researcher at Flinders University who founded SA cardiovascular monitoring device company Cardiovasc.Tech (C.Tech).
Every year about 1.7 million heart pacemakers are fitted globally, with more than 30,000 in Australia helping to dramatically improve recipients' health expectations. Last year, C.Tech's first electrogram device - the one point Junction Box - was sold in 26 countries.
"Designed, developed and manufactured in SA, TorqView is designed to improve real-time communication between a pacemaker lead - the wire that connects a pacemaker to the heart - and testing equipment during implant procedures," says Mr Chapman, managing director of SA startup Cardiovasc.Tech Pty Ltd, based at the Flinders University campus at Tonsley Innovation District.
"By allowing immediate detection and response to issues, the device aims to enhance patient safety, improve outcomes for pacemaker lead deployment, and contribute to advancing clinical research and practice," says Mr Chapman, who has worked for 10 years with Flinders Professor Anand Ganesan, Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Flinders Medical Centre.
Professor Ganesan, Group Leader of the Cardiac Signals Analysis Lab at Flinders University, who led the first clinical procedures at Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders Private Hospital, says TorqView's ability to provide accurate monitoring of cardiac electrograms during pacemaker lead deployment promises to significantly improve outcomes.
"This real-time feedback may enhance patient safety by enabling immediate detection and resolution of any issues that arise in conduction system pacing," says Professor Ganesan.
"The data collected will also enrich our scientific understanding of cardiac electrogram characteristics during deployment, potentially informing future research and clinical practice."
Based at the New Venture Institute at Flinders University's Tonsley campus, the Cardiovasc.Tech device's commercialisation has been supported by private investment, the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources and the SA Government's Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) at Flinders University. Other commercialisation partners include pre-clinical research at SAHMRI and design and development work at the Australian National Fabrication Facility - Optofab and by SA medtech manufacturer Actis Medical.
Mr Chapman says South Australia's medical device 'ecosystem' has "everything we need to innovate and commercialise products on world markets, from a world-class health system and leading scientists and engineers, to a strong manufacturing tradition".
Professor Karen Reynolds, who leads the MDPP and Medical Device Research Institute at Flinders University's Tonsley campus, says "TorqView's success highlights South Australia's thriving medical device ecosystem and the power of collaboration between innovators, healthcare providers, and researchers."
Actis Medical managing director Chris Henry says the release of the device on world markets underscores "the strength of SA businesses and also showcases the value of collaboration, innovation and strong partnerships".
Verity Kingmill, from the New Venture Institute at Flinders University, says the project "highlights the power of innovation and collaboration in South Australia," adding Cardiovasc.Tech is one of many startups currently supported by the NVI at Flinders' Tonsley campus.
