CTCM Team Visits Awardee CathRx for Kick-Off Project Meeting

17 October 2023

Pictured: from left, Ian Fong, CathRx; Kerstin Schuetz, MDPP; Twins Yiu, CathRx; Andionne Parlade, Duncan Macinnis - both from MTPConnect; Stuart Anderson, MTAA; Danielle Shand, MTPConnect; and Milanjot Assi, CathRx.

Our Clinical Translation and Commercialisation Medtech (CTCM) program team travelled to Sydney recently to visit Round 2 awardee CathRx Limited, a medical device company developing a pioneering pulsed field ablation system for treatment of Atrial Fibrillation, a widespread heart rhythm disorder that can lead to blood clots and strokes.

Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) is an innovative technology that offers a safer and more effective alternative to catheter ablation using heat or cold. Unlike traditional therapies, PFA uses non-thermal electric fields to precisely ablate heart tissue in a matter of seconds. This tissue-selective approach leads to faster and more durable clinical outcomes for patients.

The CathRx team has developed a state-of-the-art Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) generator and integrated it with its globally recognised catheter system, and in doing so has set a new standard in the field. Successful preclinical studies have demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of this combined system, paving the way for First in Human clinical trials.

Pictured: far right, CathRx CEO Ian Fong demonstrating the ElectroPulse PFA system on a potato model, and CTCM Project Manager Andionne Parlade.

This milestone brings CathRx closer to validating its cutting-edge medical technology and bringing it to the world.

During the visit, the CathRx team demonstrated its pioneering device to the CTCM team using a raw potato model to show how the device works.

CTCM Director Danielle Shand had an opportunity to operate the device as a surgeon would. She was able to identify on a monitor which points of the ElectroPulse catheter were in contact with living cells – in this case, the raw potato—using CathRx’s unique tissue contact assessment system and administering pulsed electric fields using a push pedal to ablate the cells.

Pictured: left, CTCM Director Danielle Shand at CathRx in Sydney, where she had the opportunity to operate the cutting-edge PFA device.

The project is one of eleven being supported through the MRFF-funded CTCM Program, and the funding is transformative for the awardee companies.

Thanks to CTCM backing, CathRx's clinical program has been accelerated, allowing the company to establish the safety and effectiveness of Australia's pioneering PFA system and collect essential data to support its regulatory submission.