Innovations
Center for Advanced Heart & Vascular Care
University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute formally inaugurated its Center for Advanced Heart & Vascular Care on the campus of University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in September of 2019 under a visionary partnership with Siemens. This facility embraces an ongoing revolution in imaging and structural heart techniques. Ensuring the juxtaposition of state-of-the-art imaging units with the latest interventional labs, the suite boasts a dual-energy CT scanner and a 1.5 T scanner equipped with the newest pulse sequences, an exercise treadmill, a stationary bicycle ergometer and a cardiopulmonary cart that allow exercise cardiometabolic testing within the MRI scanner, alongside an advanced interventional lab with the latest equipment for complex structural heart and vascular procedures.
Telemedicine Platform VPExam
VPExam – short for Virtual Physical Examination – is a telemedicine platform developed by University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute cardiologist James V. Cireddu, MD, after receiving initial funding from the National Science Foundation. The technology utilizes autonomous teaching software with augmented reality to guide video acquisition of important clinical findings, including evaluation of jugular venous distention, lower extremity edema, and wounds. The system also connects to an Eko Duo Bluetooth stethoscope to allow a minimally trained nurse to conduct a comprehensive physical exam with auscultation of the heart and lungs and transmit a single-lead ECG. VPExam can also assist in transmitting voice recognition-based histories, review of systems, vitals, medication reconciliation, medical document scanning and sharing of smartwatch data. With the ability to integrate with online patient health records, VPExam can also enable seamless patient registration and scheduling.