Electronic Health Reporter

Perhaps we all know what cardiovascular disease is all about. At a glance, it is nothing to joke about, and it involves all the conditions that affect the normal functioning of the heart and blood vessels. Unfortunately, it sounds pretty dangerous, and statistics show that it is the current leading cause of death for many people worldwide.

The various causes of cardiovascular diseases vary from environmental to hereditary and cultural. And for many decades, many physicians and technologists have done plenty of research regarding innovative technologies. As a result, new ways of managing and treating the heart and circulatory diseases have risen. This article explores the 6 ways how technology is used in the cardiovascular field, which everyone wishing to pursue a cardiologist career needs to know.

1. Aids In Heart Surgery

With modern technology, scientists have created a 3D-printed heart model using MRI scans of young children with congenital heart disease. By doing so, it becomes easier to facilitate patient communication before surgery.

Besides that, these unique heart models enable doctors to perfectly explain the type and nature of the heart disorders to their patients and families. In fact, most of the patients and family members have confirmed that these 3D heart models are handy, realistic, and incredibly easier to understand.

What it means is that this customized approach allows the patients and their beloved ones to understand their condition best. Therefore, they can easily engage with the surgical team and decide on their children’s most suitable treatment.

2. Monitoring Heart Failure

Heart failure is one of the many cardiovascular diseases that cause the death of many patients globally. And those living with this heart condition tend to experience abnormal heart rhythms, which can be generally irregular, too fast, or too slow.

Today, scientists continue to explore how abnormal heart rhythms impact the health of a heart failure patient. In addition to that, they try to understand how these irregular heart rhythms relate to death or hospital readmissions.

With the invention of electrocardiogram (ECG) devices, researchers can use their recordings to assess and track heart rhythms among patients for a long period. In turn, they can best understand the effect it has on the patient’s health. Other than that, new injectable cardiac monitors have been developed. They are tiny devices that can be easily implanted beneath the patient’s skin and engineered to record heart rhythms. These devices essentially make it easier for the detection and management of heart failures that may cause death.

3. Controlling Cholesterol Levels

Usually, statins circulate throughout the body of an individual. However, these components don’t always reach the sufficient levels required to prevent the build-up of fatty acids in the body. Besides that, they can affect other muscles and tissues, making some of the patients intolerant.

Today, scientists use nanomaterials to help supply cholesterol-lowering drugs to the exact parts of the body where they are most needed. These nanomaterials are tiny but stable enough to carry the drugs to the specific sites of the body. After that, they biodegrade to act once the payload of drugs gets delivered to their destinations.

Still, some researchers like those at the University of Surrey have a vision of developing these remarkable nanotechnologies, do tests, and assess if they are safe for the patient’s health. If the outcomes are reasonable, these nanotechnologies could open ways for a new therapy for patients with high cholesterol levels and cannot tolerate the current treatments like statins.

4. Helps In Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death

Researchers from the Na Homolce Hospital in the Czech Republic and the Newpace Company developed implantable defibrillators to help manage cardiovascular patients. The ISSD (Implantable String Subcutaneous Defibrillator) comes as a less invasive device designed to prevent sudden cardiac death among patients.

This new technology surpasses the current subcutaneous defibrillators as they don’t need a metal pulse generator pocket. Instead, it uses a piece of flexible string-shaped equipment with no leads inside the heart. Interestingly, the implantation takes only about 20 minutes, and the technology will be ready to be connected to your smartphone.

5. Use Of Robotic Sleeve 

Scientists from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University designed a soft robot that encloses the heart and helps it beat as required. This device promises much, especially to patients whose hearts have been weakened by a heart attack and are still at risk of heart failure.

Moreover, the robot synchronizes with the patient’s heart via a thin silicone sleeve featuring smooth pneumatic actuators that copy the heart’s outer muscular layers’ appearance. Interestingly, the device does so without having any direct contact with the blood. As a result, there is no need for potentially dangerous blood thinner medications.

6. Predicting Heart Disease

Thanks to modern technology, an artificial intelligence algorithm has been created to help predict potential heart disease among patients with ultimate ease. It does so by just scanning the patient’s eyes. Scientists designed this technology after analyzing the database of about 300,000 patients and scanned for specific patterns.

Essentially, the eye’s inner wall hides an extensive network of blood vessels. Therefore, the technology can scan the eyes and identify any telltale signs of possible heart disease like high blood pressure. Even though it is still under trial, these AI algorithms have a prediction accuracy of 70% regarding whether the patient might suffer a heart condition in the coming five years.

Final Words

Technologies in the field of cardiovascular are here to stay and will continue to impact the physicians’ tasks for a longer time positively. For sure, the more technological advancements we have worldwide, the more it will be easier to find out ways to handle or help patients suffering from heart diseases.

To this end, we believe that the above ways in which technology is used in the cardiovascular field will help you enter into a cardiologist career knowledgeably. They have been implemented by tons of scientists across the globe.

Sources

https://www.bhf.org.uk/for-professionals/healthcare-professionals/blog/2018/five-ways-exciting-new-technologies-could-transform-heart-care

https://www.digitalauthority.me/resources/2018-cardiovascular-health-technologies-doctors/

https://healthcareweekly.com/five-innovations-in-heart-disease-treatment/