About Us
Cardima's mission is to provide safe and innovative tools to the medical community for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Arrhythmias develop from abnormal electrical currents within the heart, and can be associated with fast, slow and/or irregular heartbeats. Most arrhythmias are symptomatic, and some are associated with significant morbidity and even mortality. Our products have been developed for the diagnosis and treatment of the two most common forms of arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT), with AF being the focus of most of our clinical and commercial efforts.
The potential medical benefits and cost efficiency of minimally invasive procedures have encouraged electrophysiologists and surgeons to seek new, minimally invasive techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias. In the case of AF, electrophysiologists have experimented with a technique, often referred to as the "drag and burn procedure," in which conventional radio frequency tip ablation catheters are dragged across the inside surface of an atrium in an attempt to replicate a linear lesion similar to the surgical maze procedure. Creating continuous, linear, trans-mural lesions to isolate portions of the atria using standard tip catheters can be time consuming and difficult.
The disadvantages of existing catheter-based approaches to treat AF are attributable not to the minimally invasive approach of the procedure, but rather to the existing catheter technology. The catheters currently used are larger and stiffer than our products and most have a single electrode at the end of the catheter designed to create an ablation at the tip only. This single electrode catheter approach makes creating a solid or continuous line of scar lesion difficult.
Cardima's Microcatheter EP Ablation System: A Solution for Electrophysiologists in the treatment of AF (Currently not approved in the US)
Cardima's EP ablation system has the potential to offer the effectiveness of the open-heart surgical cure for AF (the "maze" procedure) but with less trauma, fewer complications, reduced pain, shorter hospital stays and lower procedure costs. The EP Ablation System is designed to offer the following advantages over existing, competitive catheters:
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Minimally invasive approach
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Single micro-catheter that can both map and ablate
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Enhanced access to the vasculature of the heart
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Less tissue damage at safer power setting
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Reduced procedure and radiation exposure times
Cardima's Surgical Ablation System: A Solution for Cardiothoracic Surgeons for Cardiac Tissue Ablation
Cardima offers an ablation solution for surgeons that is safer, more controlled & less invasive than the Cox Surgical Maze. The Cardima Surgical Ablation System is based on the EP technology that has been used in over 400 documented clinical cases. It can be used in both open and closed-chest procedures.
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Minimally invasive approach
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Physician Control
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Physician Feedback
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Safer Power Settings
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Added Patient Safety
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Reduced procedure time and hospital stay for the patient
The PATHFINDER® and PATHFINDER® mini diagnostic micro-catheter systems for mapping VT are all designed for use inside the vasculature of the heart wall, facilitating access to arrhythmia-causing tissue through the venous system.