Philips electronics recently announced that it had completed its patient enrollment in a clinical study that was designed to further evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the InnerCool RTx. This system works as an endovascular cooling system in patients who have myocardial infarctions; it works to restore blood flow after a heart attack. This is critical for the survival of the heart tissue.
eHealth is an ever-growing field partly because of the number of companies that people wouldn’t expect to see getting involved in the market. Philips is one of those companies that is probably better known for its home electronics, yet the company is working hard to make a name for itself in multiple fields, and the success it has had with this particular endeavor will go a long way toward making a name for itself in other technological fields.
The process in which blood flow has traditionally been restored can actually cause additional damage to the heart in most cases, but therapeutic hypothermia has been seen as a way to more effectively get the treatment to patients who need it. Dr. David Erlinge is the principal investigator for this study that Philips has undertaken.
"Therapeutic hypothermia is the most promising therapy to reduce infarct size in STEMI [segment elevation myocardial infarction] patients," Dr. Erlinge
said in a recent release. "We look forward to sharing the clinical experience of this innovative therapy as the results become available.'
Research in this area done by other firms has shown that therapeutic hypothermia can actually reduce the infarct size in patients whose body temperature rises too high, too fast. Using this technique, other studies have shown a 38 percent reduction in infarct size.
The InnerCool RTx system cools patients from the inside out, which more effectively reduces the body temperature than the other way around. The system is currently available commercially but is limited in use until further investigation is complete.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
