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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002;124:223-230
© 2002 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Editorials

Developing and financing new technology

From the Department of Surgery, Center for Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Received for publication Jan 17, 2002. Accepted for publication Feb 22, 2002. Address for reprints: W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr, MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd, Greenville, NC 27858-4354 (E-mail: chitwoodw@mail.ecu.edu).

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

	Introduction

 

View larger version (132K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Dr Chitwood

Cardiothoracic surgeons must become more involved in developing new technology to improve patient care and further the specialty. Surgeons encounter unique observational experiences in the operating room, which can provide a wellspring of innovative ideas. However, to achieve true value of a clinical benefit, unique ideas must be expanded, modeled, developed, and applied. Collaboration and a new way of thinking for cardiothoracic surgeons must emerge to be effective in this arena. With retrenchment of clinical revenues, project funding has focused increasingly on industry, government, and private channels. Herein, both developmental pathways and methods of funding new technologic ideas are examined.

In questions of science .... The authority of a thousand is not worth that humble reasoning of a single individual.

—Galileo Galilei

	Keeping cardiothoracic surgeons in the game

 
Surgeons are experiencing increased challenges to improve patient care and service efficiency with fewer complications in older patients with more complex conditions. At the same time, oversight and "score card" reporting have broadened expectations toward less surgical invasiveness, better cost containment, improved patient quality of life, workforce optimization, increased patient comfort, fewer readmissions, and more outpatient care. Concomitantly, patients have become cognizant that catheter-based procedures are much less invasive than conventional surgery and that results are improving rapidly. Our cardiology colleagues have fostered an explosive growth in new techniques and devices for treating coronary artery disease, congenital heart defects, peripheral vascular disease, and complex arrhythmias. Vascular surgeons and cardiologists have developed effective stents for aorto-iliac, carotid, and renal arterial lesions. In many centers aortic aneurysms are treated routinely with percutaneous endovascular grafting. Recently, Osterle ¹ predicted that in 10 years patients undergoing an interventional procedure in "U.S. catheterization laboratories" would jump from 800,000 to over 10 million yearly. Despite these advancing nonsurgical therapies, many opportunities still exist for cardiothoracic surgeons.

To expand our specialty and in many . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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