News

Vektor CEO Rob Krummen joined Matt Henriksson on the Bloomberg Intelligence: Vanguards of Health Care podcast for an in-depth interview on Vektor, how vMap utilizes a standard 12-lead ECG to analyze & map cardiac arrhythmias, and the future of utilizing the technology for cardiac ablations.

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Vektor Medical today announced the release of a series of software enhancements to its AI-based non-invasive solution, vMap.

Designed to improve ablation outcomes and procedural efficiencies, the newly updated vMap software integrates additional automation and advanced visualization features.  

The software upgrades are designed to improve the accuracy, visualization, and efficiency of arrhythmia analysis and interpretation.

vMap’s use with ‘Unmappable’ Ventricular Tachycardia ablation and accurate proof-of-concept mapping using outpatient 12-lead ECG data to be presented at the Heart Rhythm Society’s Annual Conference in New Orleans.

During an episode of the Cardio Conversations podcast, Medtech Insight's Reed Miller interviewed Vektor CEO Rob Krummen. Their discussion covered everything from the significance of ECG mapping and the potential benefits of unlocking the data contained within it.

Use of vMap during complex atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation was associated with significantly improved freedom from atrial arrhythmias compared with standard-of-care pulmonary vein isolation.

The study found that additional AF driver site ablation guided by vMap was associated with an 87.5% freedom from all atrial arrhythmias compared with the control arm’s 58.0% arrhythmia-free survival (p=0.043).

The results were presented at the Biomarkers and Personalized Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease Symposium on Saturday, March 25, in La Jolla, California.

Case studies highlighting vMap’s effectiveness at localizing arrhythmia termination sites in complex cases to be presented alongside vMap time study.

The two complex clinical case studies, highlight the use of vMap to guide the successful cryoablation of PVCs near the intramural anomalous coronary artery and concomitant surgical ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF) ablation during left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. The new results add to the growing body of evidence that demonstrates vMap’s utility for the successful treatment of a wide range of arrhythmias, including surgical ablation.

New data was presented that demonstrated vMap's potential utility in patients with adult congenital heart disease and refractory atrial fibrillation at the recent Annual Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS) Scientific Session.

“These initial clinical results that show successful mapping with vMap in complex cases are promising," said Sutton Fox M.D., UC San Diego Health. "Although additional studies are needed, we are optimistic that future clinical results may reinforce vMap’s usability for a broader range of patients, which ultimately has the potential to improve patient outcomes for millions of people with adult congenital heart disease and refractory atrial fibrillation.”

In the presentation titled Forward-Solution Computational Arrhythmia Mapping is Associated with Decreased Procedural Time, Fluoroscopy Use, and Cost, Toomu presented findings from a retrospective, case-control study evaluating the hypothesis that non-invasive computational ECG mapping reduces overall procedure time, fluoroscopy use, and cost in the EP lab setting. The poster presentation won first place in the research category.

vMap exhibited a reduction in total procedure duration of 68 minutes (227±54 vs. 295±77 minutes, p<0.001), reduction in fluoroscopy time of 16.3 minutes (18.4±13.9 vs. 34.7±16.6 minutes, p<0.001), and EP lab costs ($2,267). Use of vMap was also associated with a reduced use of 64-electrode basket catheters in atrial fibrillation ablation cases (p=0.025)

Circulation has published a peer-reviewed manuscript of the clinical data from a study evaluating the accuracy vMap®. The study shows 97.3% accuracy in identifying arrhythmia source locations in nine atrial and ventricular arrhythmias and pacing types across all four heart chambers. 

The article titled, “Forward-Solution Noninvasive Computational Arrhythmia Mapping: The VMAP Study” was authored by researchers and cardiologists at the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Diego, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, Mills Peninsula Medical Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Katherine Kacena Consulting, Technomics Research, the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego, and Vektor Medical, Inc.

Vektor today announced the appointment of three key executives. The appointments, which come as Vektor prepares to expand the commercial availability of its vMap technology in the U.S., are Joe Braidwood as Chief Strategy Officer, Christian David Márton, Ph.D., as Vice President of Technology and Averee Chang as Vice President of Product.

“Through its early commercial success, we've seen that vMap has the potential to transform arrhythmia care," said Rob Krummen, CEO. "Joe, Averee and Christian are leaders in their respective fields, with distinct perspectives that will help drive our vision forward. I’m thrilled to welcome them to the team and look forward to working closely together through this exciting phase of our journey."

Vektor Medical today announced the appointment of Rob Krummen as CEO.

With nearly two decades of experience leading and advising corporations, nonprofits, institutions of higher education and state entities, Rob is uniquely qualified to lead the company in this new capacity. Most recently, he served as president and chief operating officer at Vektor, where he led clinical, regulatory, engineering, and operations. As CEO, Rob intends to continue overseeing these efforts, while spearheading the growth of the company’s commercial and sales teams.

Vektor Medical Aims to Change the Map of Atrial Fibrillation.

“At the recent Heart Rhythm Society meeting, Vektor Medical reported unprecedented rates of success at mapping sources of arrhythmias with vMap, a noninvasive computational modeling system that reveals potential hot spots in less than three minutes”

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“We wanted to find a way to pinpoint the arrhythmia source location using data from the 12-lead ECG," said Dr. David Krummen. "The 12-lead ECG is used in a variety of clinical settings outside the electrophysiology laboratory including the emergency department, the intensive care unit, and the outpatient clinic. One of the major goals of the system is to leverage arrhythmia data from these ECGs to potentially allow arrhythmia source mapping prior to arrival in electrophysiology lab."

Vektor Medical today announced positive results from its clinical validation study evaluating the accuracy of cardiac mapping with vMap. The study achieved statistically significant results of 98.7% in accurately identifying the regional arrhythmia source location for premature ventricular complex (PVC) and ventricular tachycardia (VT), 96.9% in accurately identifying the regional arrhythmia source for the arrhythmias and pacing types studied, and 97.3% segment mapping accuracy in all nine arrhythmia and pacing types included. 

The study results exceeded the pre-specified accuracy goals for arrhythmia source and pacing site localization, demonstrating vMap’s reliability as an accurate, non-invasive cardiac mapping tool. 

Results from the study will be presented at Heart Rhythm 2022 on April 29, 2022. 

vMap Mapping Technology for Cardiac Arrhythmias: Interview with Mike Monko, CEO of Vektor Medical.

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UC San Diego doctor creates new way to diagnose irregular heartbeat. vMap system uses ECG to create 3D image of heart.

Vektor Medical announced UC San Diego Health as the first hospital system in the world to offer its recently FDA cleared vMap.  

"We are committed to providing the most advanced cardiac arrhythmia care for our patients and are enthusiastic about the opportunity to improve the efficacy and safety of the ablations at UCSD using vMap. We anticipate that vMap’s non-invasive arrhythmia source mapping will enable our team to accurately identify and quickly target arrhythmia sources, which we hope will minimize the need for repeat procedures and reduce risk for patients.” Dr. Farshad Raissi, UC San Diego Health

vMap is the first technology that identifies potential arrhythmia source locations anywhere in the heart in less than three minutes using only 12-lead electrocardiogram data. The company is rolling out the technology at select cardiovascular centers of excellence across the country over the coming year before making it more widely available.

Vektor Medical announced today that its computational ECG mapping system, vMap, has received FDA 510(k) clearance.  

vMap is designed to map potential arrhythmia sources (hot spots) associated with stable or unstable arrhythmias anywhere in the heart, in less than three minutes using only ECG data. Following clearance, vMap will be commercially available to sites across the U.S.

“With vMap we are changing how electrophysiologists think about mapping. Our goal is to increase first-pass success rates, lower risk, and decrease the current cost burden of ablation on the healthcare system.”
Vektor Medical CEO Mike Monko

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A peer-reviewed article published by the Heart Rhythm Society’s journal Heart Rhythm O2 concludes that Vektor’s Computational ECG Mapping System (vMap™) and protocol-based respiratory gating may help facilitate radioablation planning and maintain efficacy during therapy.

The prospective, dual-site study, led by Dr. Gordon Ho, reported that a new non-invasive workflow using vMap™ may help facilitate the radioablation planning workflow. The study concluded that radio-ablation using vMap’s 12-lead ECG mapping and respiratory gated delivery may provide short-term safety and maintain efficacy during therapy in patients with advanced structural heart disease and refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT).

A dual-center study reported that vMap, as part of a new, non-invasive workflow, improved efficiency and precision for radio-ablation therapy in these study subjects. The study showed that the radio-ablation administered as a part of the enhanced workflow also significantly reduced ICD shocks for patients receiving the therapy. Presented by its lead author Dr. Gordon Ho, at American College of Cardiology 2021 and the Taiwan Heart Rhythm Society 2021 (THRS), the research won first prize in the “Clinical - Ventricular Arrhythmias/Cardiac Implanted Electronic Device” category at THRS. As stated at the ACC and THRS conferences, the study concluded that the simplified, non-invasive workflow, involving vMap, was “Feasible, Efficient, Precise, Effective, [and] Safe”.