Blood flow velocity for transcatheter aortic valve implantation microsurgery

In this work, a new tool has been developed to help surgeons perform the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (T.A.V.I.) procedure, especially during the cannulation phase. The system has been developed within the framework of the C.A.S.C.A.D.E. project (Cognitive Authonomous Catheters in Dynamic Environments, http://www.cascade-fp7.eu/) in the laboratories of Medyria AG in Winterthur (Switzerland), partially in the PMS department of the Katolieke Universiteit of Leuven (Belgium) and King’s College of London (U.K.), and consists of a standard T.A.V.I. catheter with a blood flow velocity and EM position tracking sensors. In addition to the interface unit between the catheter and the computer, the system features a dedicated section in the software (property of CASCADE Consortium) designed to yield the information about the blood flow and the position of the catheter with respect to the aortic valve. To do this, two different visualizers have been developed and implemented into the software itself: a Flow VS Time and a Flow Colormap. After the catheter prototype and the software were ready, the whole system has been tested, calibrated, and given evaluation both internal and external from a CASCADE advisory board of surgeons who have been asked to try the catheter-software compound out and express an opinion on its overall usefulness. While the answers have been good for the Flow VS Time visualizer, the Flow Colormap has been judged too complicated for clinical use, even if its potential has been arising a certain amount of interest between the surgeons. Overall, the system has been evaluated as a potentially useful tool despite some limitations.