Taumedical has introduced a groundbreaking catheter technology that treats heart disease without the need for traditional surgery.
The heart, which powers the body, beats over 100,000 times daily and pumps more than 7,000 liters of blood throughout the body. However, about one in every 500 people suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a rare inherited condition. This disease causes the heart muscle to thicken abnormally, blocking blood flow. Symptoms include unexplained shortness of breath and chest pain. In severe cases, it can lead to sudden cardiac death.
Currently, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is treated by removing the thickened part of the interventricular septum—the wall dividing the heart’s left and right sides—or by injecting alcohol to dissolve the thickened tissue. However, alcohol treatment carries the risk of damaging healthy tissue, and surgical removal requires over a month of recovery, which can be especially hard for elderly patients.
Taumedical has developed a safer solution using electric current to generate heat and remove the thickened muscle. At a meeting held at Taumedical’s headquarters on the Busan National University Yangsan Campus in South Korea, Chief Technology Officer Won Yong-hyun explained, “By inserting a thin catheter through the coronary veins into the interventricular septum and applying high-frequency current, we can safely melt the thickened muscle.”
This innovative catheter technology promises a less invasive, safer, and faster recovery option for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
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