Medtronic has opened its first Therapy and Procedure Training Centre (TPTC) in South Asia, in Chennai, India, to increase the number of skilled practitioners in India who implant life saving devices to treat cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure and coronary artery disease.
The TPTC centre aims to provide cardiologists with tailored, peer-to-peer training courses on implantable cardiac device therapies that cover the most recent advances in patient diagnosis, device functioning, implantation technique and follow-up management of patients with device implants.
The centre intends to offer practical experience on device implantation techniques in a fully equipped virtual cardiac catheterization lab.
It also aims to provide experience in the programming, follow-up and troubleshooting of implantable devices using a simulation set-up comprising virtual patients, live devices and a device programming system.
Medtronic India managing director Milind Shah said that India has a small number of electrophysiologists (50 nos.) that implants high end implantable devices like CRT’s & ICD’s to manage Heart Failure and reduce mortality due to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).
“Medtronic is committed to increasing this number in India so that physicians are able to deliver these therapies effectively to more and more patients who need them,” Shah said.