Ireland: promising AFib treatment moves forward

20 November 2019

An Irish company will soon launch clinical trials for a device that could provide relief to people suffering from irregular heartbeats. The technology was developed thanks in part to ERDF support. Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is a heart condition that makes people five times more likely to have a stroke. Symptoms include palpitations, fatigue and dizziness. Current treatment options are limited, with anti-arrhythmic medication effective in less than a third of patients. Cardiac ablation surgery

An Irish company will soon launch clinical trials for a device that could provide relief to people suffering from irregular heartbeats. The technology was developed thanks in part to ERDF support.

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is a heart condition that makes people five times more likely to have a stroke. Symptoms include palpitations, fatigue and dizziness.

Current treatment options are limited, with anti-arrhythmic medication effective in less than a third of patients. Cardiac ablation surgery also has mixed results.

AtriAN Medical, a medical device spin-out company based at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway), has been working on a new way to treat the condition. It recently announced it had raised EUR 2.3 million to begin first-in-human clinical trials of a device that could provide a long-term solution by reducing the overall sensitivity of the heart to AFib.

Specifically, the device delivers electrical signals at five points on the outside surface of the heart where AFib is initiated.

The technology originated at the Mayo Clinic in the United States but was further developed in a collaborative project involving NUI Galway. This was made possible by the Mayo Clinic, as well as Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund Programme that is co-funded by the European Regional and Development Fund.Related links:

Source article on https://www.engineersjournal.ie/ 4/11/2019