Aim: Traditional percutaneous cardiovascular interventions require close physical proximity between the patients and the healthcare team, posing occupational hazards that range from radiation exposure to interpersonal air contamination. Materials & methods: Prospective single-arm pilot study (n = 10) to investigate robotic-assisted intervention as a strategy to reduce proximity during the procedure. Primary end point: composite of angiographic success, intervention performed with the team positioned >2 meters from the patient for ≥50% procedure duration, and absence of in-hospital death or acute target lesion occlusion. Results: The composite primary end point was achieved in 100% of cases. Conclusion: Robotic-assisted percutaneous intervention provided successful invasive treatment while reducing proximity and shared air space between the care-delivery team and the patient during the procedure. Trial registration number: NCT04379453 (Clinicaltrials.gov).
Keywords: percutaneous coronary intervention; peripheral intervention; radiation physics/dosimetry; robotics.
Lay abstract Minimally invasive therapies for cardiovascular diseases are techniques that limit the size of incisions needed and so lessen wound healing time, but traditionally require close contact between the patients and the healthcare team. This fact poses hazards that range from radiation exposure to the spread of airborne diseases. We developed a small study of ten patients to investigate whether a new method of robotic-assisted stent implantation for the treatment of a heart attack would reduce proximity between the patient and medical staff during the procedure. To evaluate the effectiveness of that strategy, we assessed the success of the procedure (by analyzing the images of the operation), the amount of time the team was positioned more than 2 meters from the patient and the occurrence of complications during the hospitalization. We concluded that this method of robotic-assisted stent implantation after a heart attack provided successful treatment while reducing proximity and shared air space between the care-delivery team and the patient.