Introduction

HeartFlow is a venture backed cardiovascular diagnostics company located in Redwood City, CA, USA. Our FFR_CT technology is based on 15 years of scientific research at Stanford University led by the company’s founders: Dr. Charles Taylor, PhD and Dr. Christopher Zarins, MD.

Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) is the gold standard for determining whether patients with coronary artery disease require treatment, either with balloons, stents, or coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG)^1,2. Currently, FFR is measured during invasive coronary angiography by placing a pressure measuring guidewire directly in the patient’s coronary artery.

HeartFlow’s FFR_CT analysis uses the power of high-performance computing and image data from computed tomography (CT) scans to provide physicians with data about blood flow within the coronary arteries. Our technology enables the computation of FFR in a non-invasive manner.

At HeartFlow we are dedicated to improving patient outcomes by providing safe and effective, cutting edge technology. Data from our DISCOVER-FLOW study were recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In this study, HeartFlow FFR_CT analysis led to a 25% improvement in per-vessel diagnostic accuracy as compared to a standard CT scan³. Results of the DISCOVER-FLOW study were also presented at EuroPCR 2011.

HeartFlow was awarded the 2011 EuroPCR Innovation award, an award that highlights one technology each year that shows the greatest potential to change the practice of interventional medicine.

 

1. Wijns W et al. EHJ. 2010     2. Kushner FG et al. JACC. 2009     3. Min JK et al. JACC 2011