UK’s first remotely supported heart valve procedure carried out in Essex with patients set to benefit
Essex heart patients are the first in the country to benefit from new wearable technology used by hospital staff in a revolutionary procedure.
Nurses at the world-renowned Essex Cardiothoracic Centre (CTC) at Basildon Hospital are wearing Smart Glasses, where they are guided remotely through a complex multi-step procedure by experts seeing exactly what they see.
The glasses enable heart staff to receive real-time advice from anywhere in the world as they share a live feed from the operating theatre through a high-resolution camera on the Smart Glasses.
Known as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), the procedure involves inserting a new valve via a blood vessel in the leg, that is then guided towards the beating heart by the cardiologist where they can then replace the diseased valve.
Previously, staff were advised by a clinical expert from medical device company Boston Scientific present in the operating theatre, but they can now be remotely guided by the expert via the Smart Glasses from anywhere in the world, helping save time for patients and staff.
Dr Rohan Jagathesan, Medical Director at the Essex CTC, said: “This new innovative equipment allows us to be more independent and to carry out more procedures, and means we can treat patients more quickly as we don’t need a specialist to come to the hospital.
“We can also use the Smart Glasses to train our staff during a simulated procedure and further develop their skills, helping to improve the service we give to our patients.”
Olivier Lonbois, Vice President Interventional Cardiology and Structural Heart at Boston Scientific, the manufacturer of the TAVI device used in this remote procedure, said: “We are delighted to be able to provide our ExpertLink support to the team at the Essex CTC and the wider cardiology community. It is exciting to be able to provide clinical support using novel technologies that open up more options for NHS hospitals undertaking these types of specialist procedures.”
While the Essex CTC has carried out its very first remotely supported TAVI, it has performed more than 500 of these procedures, meaning that more patients than ever will benefit from cutting-edge Smart Glasses technology.