HeartFlow: Disrupting The Diagnostic Paradigm In Cardiology

Article preview from IN VIVO - July, 2011

Most current cardiac diagnostic imaging tests are highly inexact, relying heavily on clinicians' observations. HeartFlow is adapting advanced computer modeling to cardiology to produce a precise, predictive, noninvasive diagnostic that doubles as a treatment planning tool. The test could eliminate unnecessary procedures for patients and save the system money, but is that what interventionalists want?

HeartFlow: Disrupting The Diagnostic Paradigm In Cardiology

Article preview from IN VIVO - July, 2011

Innovation is often described as an idea that is ahead of its time. Sometimes that refers to a unique idea that no one else has yet come up with, but once conceived, can then be implemented. In other cases, the idea truly is ahead of its time because the capabilities do not yet exist to bring that innovation to fruition. The latter describes cardiovascular diagnostic start-up HeartFlow Inc.

Formed only in 2010 and already on the verge of receiving CE mark approval, with the hope of US commercialization next year, the company appears to be something of an overnight success in developing a noninvasive technology to measure fractional flow reserve (FFR) using data from CT scans. But in fact, this is a technology that truly has been a long time coming, based on an idea conceived well before the infrastructure existed to turn it into reality.

HeartFlow is the story of the confluence of disparate technologies, brought together by three leading figures in different fields to form a hybrid start-up that is part medical device, part IT software company. Nearly two decades ago, Charles Taylor, PhD, a pioneer in applying computational fluid dynamics to human biology, began working with Christopher K. Zarins, MD, PhD, then chief of vascular surgery at Stanford Medical Center, to begin modeling blood flow using hemodynamic engineering techniques widely used in other fields. At the time, however, neither the computing power nor diagnostic imaging capability was readily available to make their idea practicable. Recent advances, however, in both of those technologies have made this innovation commercially viable, and Zarins and Taylor joined with experienced surgeon/entrepreneur John Stevens, MD, to turn their idea into a company that may significantly alter the diagnostic paradigm in cardiology.

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