Coronary Artery Visualization System

Heart disease is the cause of more deaths in America than any other disease. Coronary heart disease occurs when the walls of coronary arteries that carry blood to the heart are clogged with fatty deposits. A primary treatment for coronary heart disease is the coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). During a CABG, a detour is inserted around blocked portions of coronary arteries using segments of healthy vessels from other parts of the patient's body. For most patients, the internal condition of the affected coronary arteries is difficult to assess visually or by palpation. Further, for approximately 10% of patients, the affected arteries are obscured by fat or muscle and are difficult to locate. The aim of this project is to develop a system for use during surgery for visualizing coronary arteries, locating those that are obscured by fat or myocardial tissue, and assessing the quality of the resulting graft. The Creare system will allow cardiac surgeons to non-invasively view (before grafting) cross sections of the coronaries to assess their health and beneath the surface of obscuring layers to locate buried vessels. The Creare system will provide cardiac surgeons with a new tool to optimize CABG procedures which will result in better, more consistent outcomes. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Creare will develop a new device for assessing and locating coronary arteries during bypass surgery. This device is intended to assist surgeons, will reduce the time for coronary artery bypass graft procedures, and result in better clinical outcomes. The device will be of interest to vendors of equipment for cardiac surgeons.