Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is the First U.S. Hospital to Use New Circulatory Support System Console for Heart Failure Patients

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Denise Sylvester, RN, of Sayreville, poses with the iPulse console

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) is the first hospital in the nation to use a new circulatory support system console that gives nurses and physicians the ability to seamlessly transition between intra-aortic heart balloon pumps and ventricular assist devices when supporting the cardiac function of heart failure patients.

Manufactured by the Danvers, Massachusetts-based Abiomed, Inc., the iPulse Circulatory Support System is a console that provides a single platform which can support the function of multiple devices designed to sustain the life of patients who are suffering from acute and chronic heart failure. Abiomed is also the manufacturer of the AbioCor, the world's first completely self-contained, fully implantable artificial heart. RWJUH is one of only four hospitals in the nation to offer the AbioCor device as an option to patients diagnosed with end-stage heart failure.

By operating through a single console, physicians and nursing staff do not need to seek out a separate support console when transitioning a patient from a balloon pump to a ventricular assist device or vice versa. The console will have the potential to work with other cardiac support devices manufactured by Abiomed in the future and it is smaller and lighter than the current generation of circulatory support consoles.

Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD) and balloon pumps help support the heart function for patients whose hearts may be too diseased or weak to pump blood effectively throughout the body on their own. The devices operate through a console which allows physicians and nurses to monitor patients' heart activity. Prior to the iPulse device, VADs and balloon pumps had to operate out of completely separate consoles. The iPulse console received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in December 2007.

"The iPulse device streamlines the console's function and is more user friendly," explains Princeton resident Mark B. Anderson, MD, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Cardiac Surgery at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Chief of Cardiac Surgery at RWJUH. "There is no other device available right now that serves as a single platform for such a wide spectrum of cardiac support devices."

According to Somerset resident Billie Bellamy, RN, MSN, CCRN, Nursing Director for Cardiac Surgical Services at RWJUH, transitioning from one support device to another on the iPulse console is a simple seven-step process that allows nursing staff and physicians to choose options from a drop-down menu on the console screen, much like a user would do within a Windows operating system.

"It makes the entire transition process easier because nurses don't need to find another console in another area of the hospital," Bellamy notes. "It also assists with patient transport because the device is lighter and smaller than traditional support consoles."

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Selected as one of four hospitals nationwide to offer the world's first self-contained implantable artificial heart, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.rwjuh.edu) is a 600-bed academic medical center and the principal hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care in medicine. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, and women's and children's care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.

The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for both heart and heart surgery and respiratory disorders, according to U.S.News & World Report's 2008 ranking of "America's Best Hospitals." The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer has rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital among the nation's best comprehensive cancer centers. The Leapfrog Group rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is also a recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence for more than 10 consecutive years.

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