The Valley Hospital First in New Jersey to Treat Cardiac Ablation Procedure Using Holographic Guidance Platform

July 18, 2024

Dr. Musat using the CommandEP platform to visualize his next ablation site

The Valley Hospital is pleased to announce the treatment of the first patient in New Jersey, and one of the first patients in the United States, whose procedure was guided using a new FDA-cleared holographic cardiac ablation visualization platform known as CommandEP manufactured by SentiAR (St. Louis, Missouri). 

According to SentiAR, the completion of this pulsed field atrial fibrillation ablation procedure at The Valley Hospital makes Valley the first center in the world to perform pulsed field ablation using the CommandEP platform. 

The Valley Hospital is one of the few select hospitals that have performed an ablation using SentiAR technology. To date, over 100 procedures have been performed across the country. Valley’s procedure was performed by Dan Musat, MD, Associate Director of Electrophysiology at The Valley Hospital, and Director of Electrophysiology Research for Valley Health System. 

According to SentiAR, the CommandEP system is the world’s first FDA-cleared, holographic, augmented reality (AR) cardiac ablation visualization platform. It is designed to improve efficiency of cardiac ablation procedures. During an ablation, an electrophysiologist will use energy (heat, cold, or pulsed electric fields) to create small scars in the heart tissue. This interrupts irregular electrical pathways in the heart that cause arrhythmias – abnormal heart rhythms.

Physicians using the SentiAR system will wear a pair of AR glasses that will display an interactive, intuitive, and hand-free view of the patient’s heart. How is this holographic view of the patient’s heart possible? Behind the scenes, the system integrates with the hospital’s electroanatomic mapping system (EAMS) platforms – imaging platforms used to create a three-dimensional model of the human heart. This integration provides a three-dimensional view of the patient’s specific anatomy for operating physicians to view in real time, guiding the procedure.

“Our team of electrophysiologists at Valley perform more than 750 cardiac ablations a year to treat arrhythmias. We are regularly adopting the latest technology to advance the high-level care we provide our patients,” said Dr. Musat. “This commitment to advancing our patient’s safety and outcomes led to our adoption of the SentiAR system. The system provides our electrophysiology team with an interactive visual of the patient’s heart, helping to guide where we will ablate the heart during our procedure.”

“SentiAR is adding the capability for physicians to view all information during their procedures through the SentiAR interface,” said Berk Tas, Chief Executive Officer of SentiAR, Inc. “This in turn enhances control and efficiency of cardiac electrophysiology ablation procedures.”

To learn more about Valley’s electrophysiology services and the treatments available, please visit ValleyHealth.com/EP.