Emerging cardiac devices and technologies

The primary goals of this last chapter are to: (1) discuss, in more detail, some of the technologies mentioned earlier in this book; (2) introduce readers to several additional technological advances associated with cardiovascular health care that have been recently introduced, are currently in clinical testing, or will soon be released; and (3) discuss future opportunities in the cardiac device arena. It should be noted that other areas of importance in cardiac treatment such as biological approaches to disease management (e.g., stem cell therapy), genomics (i.e., diagnostics and gene therapy), proteomics, and/or tissue engineering will also have a major impact on the future of cardiac clinical care, yet detailed discussions of these approaches are beyond the scope of this text. More specifically, in this last chapter, we will review several innovations in the following areas: (1) resuscitation systems and devices; (2) implantable therapies; (3) delivery systems; (4) invasive therapies; (5) procedural improvements; (6) less invasive surgical approaches; (7) post-procedural follow-ups; and/or (8) training tools.