JonGames
Watchman Cardiac Implant 3D Parallel View
The Watchman is a cardiac implant that covers / closes off the left atrial appendage to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with non-valvular Afib (atrial fibrillation). It is a surgical alternative to anti-coagulation with medication. Bleeding is a major adverse event of blood thinners which are prominent in the elderly. With this device, patients with Afib can stop taking their anti-coagulation thereby reducing the risk of bleeding while still lowering their risk of stroke.
The left atrial appendage is an area of lower flow that does not contribute as much work to the function of the heart. Blood can start to form clots within this space due to situations such as Afib which further impairs the contractility and flow within the atria. By closing off this atrial appendage, less clots can form in the heart which means less potential for a clot to break off and travel to the brain leading to a stroke.
A minimally invasive procedure where access to the heart is gained via catheters running through veins is used to place this device. Both fluoroscopy and TEE (transesophageal echocardigraphy) is used for visualization during deployment. The device has a self-expanding metal mesh structure that is made from nitinol, an allow of nickel & titanium which exhibits shape memory and superelasticity, to allow for compact delivery through the veins to the heart before it is deployed. On the metal mesh is a porous covering of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) knit fabric which allows for the heart to grow over and fully occlude the atrial appendage. This is the second major revision of the device, the Watchman FLX, which allows for improvements such as partial & full recapture, decreased minimum LAA depth required, two rows of 18 J hook anchors, and a fully closed blunt distal end.
Ignore the small hole... This is a heavily-used demo device.
This photo is in 3D parallel view. More Instructions for viewing 3D images: www.3dphoto.net/text/viewing/technique.html
Stereo Viewer for all my photos: jongames.com/stereophoto/
Watchman Cardiac Implant 3D Parallel View
The Watchman is a cardiac implant that covers / closes off the left atrial appendage to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with non-valvular Afib (atrial fibrillation). It is a surgical alternative to anti-coagulation with medication. Bleeding is a major adverse event of blood thinners which are prominent in the elderly. With this device, patients with Afib can stop taking their anti-coagulation thereby reducing the risk of bleeding while still lowering their risk of stroke.
The left atrial appendage is an area of lower flow that does not contribute as much work to the function of the heart. Blood can start to form clots within this space due to situations such as Afib which further impairs the contractility and flow within the atria. By closing off this atrial appendage, less clots can form in the heart which means less potential for a clot to break off and travel to the brain leading to a stroke.
A minimally invasive procedure where access to the heart is gained via catheters running through veins is used to place this device. Both fluoroscopy and TEE (transesophageal echocardigraphy) is used for visualization during deployment. The device has a self-expanding metal mesh structure that is made from nitinol, an allow of nickel & titanium which exhibits shape memory and superelasticity, to allow for compact delivery through the veins to the heart before it is deployed. On the metal mesh is a porous covering of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) knit fabric which allows for the heart to grow over and fully occlude the atrial appendage. This is the second major revision of the device, the Watchman FLX, which allows for improvements such as partial & full recapture, decreased minimum LAA depth required, two rows of 18 J hook anchors, and a fully closed blunt distal end.
Ignore the small hole... This is a heavily-used demo device.
This photo is in 3D parallel view. More Instructions for viewing 3D images: www.3dphoto.net/text/viewing/technique.html
Stereo Viewer for all my photos: jongames.com/stereophoto/