Jerm Speaks

By kate liptrot kliptrot@derbytelegraph.co.uk

THE world’s first remote heart procedure, using a robotic arm alongside 3D mapping, will take place on a Derby man today.

X-rays will be beamed into Patrick Flood’s chest and then converted into a real-time colour image of his moving heart.

This will be displayed on a screen next to heart specialist Dr Andre Ng, who will manipulate the robot arm to perform the operation.

Dr Ng said using a robot arm enabled him to perform operations quicker and more effectively than doing it by hand.

The 3D image acted like a “mini sat-nav system” to guide him round the heart without it having to be cut into.

He said he hoped that using the two advanced technologies together would improve the precision, effectiveness and safety of these complex procedures.

Dr Ng will sit in a separate part of the operating theatre, at Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital.

Mr Flood said he was “quietly confident” the operation would be a success.

“It really will be life-changing if they can cure me,” he said. “I didn’t realise it was a world first.

“That’s quite exciting and surprising.

“I feel really privileged they’ve accepted me on to this programme.”

Mr Flood has atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disturbance, which affects more than half a million people in the UK.

As a result, he suffers breathlessness, lack of energy, dizziness, chest pain and fainting.

It increases the risk of stroke by five times.

He said: “When it’s in its most chaotic form I’m really only fit for the armchair, and that can last for three or four days.

“When I first started with it 12 years ago those bouts would last for an hour but they’ve become worse.

“They’ve now told me I’m at risk of a stroke or heart failure without surgery.”

Today’s operation will involve putting thin wire tubes into his blood vessels to stop the faulty electrical signals in his heart.

Electrodes on the tubes help identify the cause of the heart rhythm problem and then “burn” the tissue to correct the fault.

This type of operation has been carried out by hand for 20 years.

Dr Ng, Glenfield’s consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist, said 3D images of the heart had been used during surgery in Leicester since 2006 but this was the first time they had been used with the robot.

Before today, Dr Ng has guided the robot using still 2D X-ray pictures, rather than moving 3D images.

He said: “The new mapping system is like a mini satellite navigation system which shows the operation on the heart as it happens.”

The operation is part of two research trials into the effectiveness of the mapping system.

The trials have been supported by the University of Leicester and Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit. Dr Ng was unable to say how much the technology cost.

Burton man Ken Crocker was the second patient to have surgery performed on him using the robot arm in April.

Yesterday, Mr Crocker said: “I used to get out of breath when I exerted myself, but it’s made a big difference to my breathlessness.”

I might be more fixated on the details of the surgery than others, but overall, this is going to be a big step towards a robot procedures.