In the meantime, though, providers can buy some third-party iterative reconstruction products that can be used with their current system, such as "SafeCT," made by the Israeli company Medic Vision, which received FDA clearance about a year ago.

Hybrid ORs and the transcatheter heart valve


Hybrid catheter lab or hybrid operating room? Hospitals will have to decide where to put their resources as they look to perform transcatheter heart valve procedures, according to ECRI.

Instead of open heart surgery, transcatheter heart valve procedures let doctors replace or repair defective valves by making a small incision in the chest or groin and threading up a device through the blood vessels using a catheter. The technology has a head start in Europe, where thousands of the procedures have been performed, as it has been available there for several years. But it has just reached U.S. markets. Edwards Lifesciences' SAPIEN transcatheter aortic heart valve, for instance, was approved by the FDA in early November.

Other products are coming down the road, though (Medtronic also has an aortic heart valve in the works). Plus, a national coverage decision from Medicare is expected later next year. For hospitals hoping to performing these procedures, canny investment now is key, ECRI notes.

"Patient volumes for transcatheter valve procedures may be relatively low from the onset, which may favor a hybrid cath lab, which could be used for routine cath lab procedures," the group said in the report. "However, this migration may occur only after procedures mature and proficiencies improve. The hybrid OR provides the opportunity for simultaneous hybrid procedures such as open surgery in conjunction with transcatheter procedures."

Want to learn about cheaper surgical robots and other technologies? To read the full report, go here (note: registration required): https://www.ecri.org/Press/Pages/ECRI-Institute-Puts-10-Technology-Issues-on-its-2012-Watch-List-for-Hospital-Executives.aspx

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