Arrhythmia Research Has New Home

April 14, 2003, ST. LOUIS – Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Stereotaxis, Inc. will open a new cardiac catherization lab in mid-April. The lab will house Washington University School of Medicine research focused on catheter ablation of arrhythmias.

The $2 million lab is one of the first of its kind in the nation. "It''s a way to demonstrate how Barnes-Jewish Hospital is willing to invest in new frontiers in cardiac care," says Donna Strain, RN, manager of the cardiac catherization lab at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

The lab''s primary focus will be on Stereotaxis'' FDA-approved Niobe Magnetic Navigation System. The Niobe system is used to navigate magnet-tipped medical devices, such as catheters and guidewires, through the cardiovascular system to designated target sites in the heart and coronary vasculature.

"I feel the magnetic guidance system will allow us to control the movement of catheters with greater precision," says Bruce Lindsay, MD, director of the clinical electrophysiology laboratory at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. "This will allow us to do complex ablation procedures more effectively."

The Niobe system is based on using computer-controlled magnets, positioned external to the body, to programmatically steer magnetically enabled catheters and guidewires, directly at their distal tip, throughout the cardiovascular system. The system is designed to work with the Siemens Axiom Artis dFC digital fluoroscopy system, which is used to visualize the devices as they are navigated.

The lab will also be used for specific interventions for coronary artery disease, and some interventional radiology.