Narayana Health City introduces a smart-generation catheter device in India


Becomes the first hospital in India to introduce the next generation smart device 

that is very effective in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythm

20 September 2016 Bangalore: Bangalore-based Narayana Health City has become the first hospital in the country to introduce a new smart-generation catheter device that will correct electrical signals causing disturbance in the heart rhythm. The device was used first at Narayana Health City in April 2016 by a team of cardiologists specialising in electrophysiology to correct disturbance in the heart rhythm using Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA). Narayana Health got an approval from US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to import the device with a license to use in India. The team comprising Dr. Shreesha Maiya, Consultant Pediatric Interventional Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist, Narayana Health City and Dr. Kapil Kumawat, Senior Cardiology – Adult, Narayana Health City have performed many successful procedures on children using this catheter at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru. 

Narayana Health City introduces a smart-generation catheter device in India


RFA is a medical procedure where special electrophysiological catheters are used to record local electrical activities causing heart rhythm disturbance from different centers of the conduction system of the heart. These signals are picked up special transducers and interpreted by cardiologist specialising in Electrophysiology. Traditionally, while using these catheters, the operator does not have any information about contact force which is applied. This is important as for effective burns of the circuit, there needs to be good contact. Also, too much contact (force) can cause damage to the heart.The new smart generation catheter can exactly measure the amount of pressure applied during the procedure to correct electrical signals in the heart, which the conventional catheter cannot do. 

Speaking about correction of Heart Rhythm disorders among children, Dr. Shreesha Maiya, Consultant Pediatric Interventional Cardiologist & Electrophysiologist, Narayana Health City said, “The RFA procedure in small children is difficult due to several reasons. One major reason is the smaller heart size and it requires lot of expertise of and skilled precision. As the conducting tissues are too think and organised within small areas, it is intricate to pinpoint the finest details accurately and work on them. Catheters need to establish a good contact in these areas with the right application of force which would otherwise cause damage to the heart. The new device is a boon to the operator as it gives accurate indication to the operator of the pressure applied during radio frequency ablation to correct the electrical signals in the heart. The standard catheter doesn’t have this feature.”

“It is important that people are aware of the advance techniques that are available today in the treatment of heart beat rhythm disorder. Electrophysiology study is a specialized area in Cardiology and requires cardiologists who are highly skilled and experienced in this field.. The device Tacticath Ablation Catheter was introduced worldwide in 2015 and we are using it for the first time in India at Narayana Health City”, informed Dr. Kapil, Consultant Cardiologist at Narayana Health City.

Tacticath ablation catheter is FDI approved (USA) for the last 1 year. It has been used in clinical setting for atrial fibrillation/tachycardia for the last 10 months worldwide.  

About Narayana Health: 
With all super-speciality tertiary care facilities that the medical world offers, Narayana Health is now a one-stop healthcare destination for all. From the first facility established in Bengaluru with approximately 225 operational beds in 2000, our Company has grown to 54 facilities (which include 53 facilities in India and 1 facility in the Cayman Islands operated by our Company's associate company, Health City Cayman Islands Ltd.) with 5300 operational beds with a potential to reach over 6600 beds. Our Company has a network of 23 hospitals (multispeciality and superspeciality healthcare facilities which provide tertiary care services), 7 heart centres (superspeciality units which are set up in a third party hospital) and 23 primary care facilities (including clinics and information centres), across a total of 18 cities in India. (For details, visit www.narayanahealth.org)

About Narayana Health City, Bengaluru:
NH Health City is located in Bommasandra, Bengaluru, which comprises of Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences (NICS), a superspecialty hospital for cardiology and cardiac surgery, and Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center (MSMC), a multispecialty hospital for cancer care, neurology and neurosurgery, nephrology, urology, and  houses what we believe, is one of India's largest bone marrow transplant units. The BMT unit at NH has performed more than 600 bone marrow transplants till now. NH Health City operates a stem cell bank.