July 22, 2021 – Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute recently became the first cardiovascular program in the U.S. to use a new real-time 3D intracardiac echo (ICE) device for patients with heart rhythm disorders.
Bradley P. Knight, MD, medical director of cardiac electrophysiology and director of the Heart Rhythm Center at Northwestern Medicine was the first to use the new VeriSight Pro ICE catheter during a cryoablation procedure to treat a heart arrhythmia.
Dr. Knight worked with Philips during the creation of the device, which uses soundwaves to create detailed live 3D moving images from inside the heart.
Standard transthoracic echocardiograms, or those performed on the chest’s surface, provide limited views of some heart structures far from the chest surface. Transesophageal echoes, or echoes performed through the esophagus, often require general anesthesia.
Dr. Knight said for a certain group of patients, general anesthesia is not recommended and is not needed when using this real-time 3D ICE. This will help open up a class of heart rhythm procedures for that patient group and allow most patients a quicker recovery time and speedier exit from the hospital.
ICE offers live image guidance for a wide range of procedures in electrophysiology and structural heart disease, allowing interventionalists to optimize cath lab performance. Some benefits of ICE are excellent patient tolerance, reduction of fluoroscopy time, and lack of need for general anesthesia or a second operator, Northwestern said.