NIH awards Thermedical $3.6M for sudden cardiac death prevention
Thermedical has received a $3.6 million three-year renewal grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to fund continued development and testing of its saline enhanced radiofrequency ablation (SERF) system, which is designed for use in ablation treatment for ventricular tachycardia (VT).
In Thermedical’s previously funded Phase 2 grant, the Somerville, Mass.-based company documented for the first time that remnant healthy myocardium within infarct scar was ablated throughout the scar’s depth. The practical implication of the results is that SERF ablation should eliminate the VT circuits associated with the infarct scar.
Previous results “not only show that SERF ablation could be a successful and efficient therapy to improve the quality of life of patients with ICDs; the results also hold the hope that, since nearly all of the scar-related VT circuits are ablated, SERF ablation could be used as a primary therapy for VT,” said principal investigator Michael G. Curley, PhD, founder of Thermedical.
Thermedical said SERF ablation uses radiofrequency electrical energy to overheat, and kill myocardial tissue. The energy is delivered by a catheter-delivered needle that simultaneously injects warm saline into the tissue. The saline alters the physics of energy delivery through the tissue.
In Thermedical’s previously funded Phase 2 grant, the Somerville, Mass.-based company documented for the first time that remnant healthy myocardium within infarct scar was ablated throughout the scar’s depth. The practical implication of the results is that SERF ablation should eliminate the VT circuits associated with the infarct scar.
Previous results “not only show that SERF ablation could be a successful and efficient therapy to improve the quality of life of patients with ICDs; the results also hold the hope that, since nearly all of the scar-related VT circuits are ablated, SERF ablation could be used as a primary therapy for VT,” said principal investigator Michael G. Curley, PhD, founder of Thermedical.
Thermedical said SERF ablation uses radiofrequency electrical energy to overheat, and kill myocardial tissue. The energy is delivered by a catheter-delivered needle that simultaneously injects warm saline into the tissue. The saline alters the physics of energy delivery through the tissue.