Philippine Heart Center, Braun bring innovative treatment to PH

In an effort to raise the standard of healthcare in the Philippines and provide better care for Filipino patients, the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) has partnered with German medical solutions provider B. Braun to establish a new education hub for minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS).

“MICS is different because you can limit the access to the chest to a very small incision. So the scar is very small on the right side of the chest and this means for the patients, you do not have this 12- to 15-centimeter scar. Besides the cosmetic reasons, it is psychologically better knowing you don’t need a big heart operation,” said PD Dr. Stephan Jacobs during the recent Advanced Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery Product Training workshop at the new PHCtrainingcenter.

As more patients survive ever more complex cardiac surgeries, they can besurprised by the challenge of bouncing back from these operations—including trauma and scarring.

Doctors can reduce surgery times to three hours, allowing them to carry out more critical operations in a day. Patients will also require fewer transfusions and medications, as well as shorter hospital stays due to faster recovery. The quicker turnover rate will have a significant impact on the Filipino population by addressing gaps in the patient-todoctor ratio and enabling hospitals to accommodate more people in need of surgical treatment.

MICS utilizes B. Braun’s newest endoscopic camera system, the Aesculap Einstein Vision 3.0, to provide very clear3D visuals of the heart and chest cavity during surgery. The PHC sees great potential in the technology and MICS in improving patient outcomes and reaching out to more Filipinos in need of surgical care. “This is why the commitment and the initiatives of bringing the Einstein here and to have a training in the Philippines is very important,” said Dr. Gerardo Manzo, deputy executive director of medical services at the PHC.

Unlike traditional heart surgery, MICSinvolves a small 3-to4-centimeter incisionbetween the ribs,where specially designed equipmentis inserted to reach the heart. These instruments differ from conventional surgical tools due to their lengths and the level of precision required for handling.Jacobs described the instruments as similar to chopsticks, but with miniaturized features of traditional tools like scalpels or hemostats at the tip.

With the Einstein Vision, surgeons can see the inside of the chest cavity using 3D visualization tech. The system generates a live 3D video feed that creates the illusion of depth perception when seen through 3D glasses, allowing surgeons to accurately gauge distance between the parts of the heart and performing the necessary surgical intervention. Its features and ease of use allow users to feel they are looking directly inside a patient’s chest.