Teaneck, NJ—Physicians at Holy Name Medical Center are the first in the Northeast to use the Magellan™ Robotic System, which enables them to perform complex, yet minimally invasive, vascular procedures with extraordinary precision and speed. Holy Name is one of only eight hospitals nationwide using Magellan, proven to provide safe navigation through small vessels, allowing targeted treatments, reducing radiation exposure, and producing superior outcomes.
In many cases, Magellan provides a nonsurgical alternative for the patient who either wishes to avoid endovascular surgery or whose prior surgery was not successful. Procedures performed with Magellan are done at Holy Name’s Interventional Institute, a state-of-the-art facility regionally recognized for minimally invasive therapies and successful outcomes in complex cases.
“Holy Name Medical Center is pleased to expand its range of robotic services with the addition of the new Magellan Robotic System,” says Michael Maron, president and CEO of Holy Name Medical Center. “With the leadership of our internationally recognized interventional radiology specialists, this new platform will provide the region with the most cutting-edge intravascular technology for nonsurgical, minimally invasive procedures.”
The key to the Magellan system is its image-guided navigation: The catheters are fully controlled robotically by the physician, and yet there is complete maneuverability to rotate them 360 degrees and bend 180 degrees in any direction. This flexibility leads to shorter procedure times and greatly reduced side effects compared to open surgery. Stenting and other endovascular procedures performed with Magellan can quickly restore blood flow and, in acute cases, save a patient from limb amputation.
“We are able to do peripheral vascular procedures with this new device because it allows us to place catheters with pinpoint precision and accuracy,” said John Rundback, MD, director of the Interventional Institute. “The robotic system and robotic catheter give us maximum flexibility and control through a remote workstation.”
Dr. Rundback performed his first procedure with the Magellan on a 64-year-old man for critical limb ischemia—severe blockages of leg arteries—which was causing him severe pain. Because the patient had very twisted blood vessels and previous procedures to try to correct the condition, he was not a good candidate for surgery or traditional catheter techniques to open up the blockages. The Magellan robot allowed the Interventional Institute physicians to successfully navigate the many turns in the patient’s leg, unblocking the vessels to eliminate the pain he had been living with for years.
Currently, the Magellan is FDA-approved for use in treating the following conditions: peripheral arterial disease, or “PAD,” (a blockage of the arteries in the body), liver cancers, enlarged uterine fibroids and significantly enlarged prostates that do not respond well to other treatments.
Peripheral Vascular Disease refers to a number of diseases that affect the blood vessels outside the heart and brain, often a narrowing of vessels that carry blood to the legs, arms, stomach or kidneys. Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumors in or around the uterus. They are the most common benign tumors in women and can cause heavy menstrual bleeding, pain and pressure on the bladder or bowel. The Magellan Robotic System allows precise positioning of catheters through which physicians can deliver treatment to block the blood supply and estrogen feeding the fibroids, resolving symptoms and preventing a total hysterectomy.
Enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia, affects more than 50 percent of men over 50 years old and can lead to difficulties associated with the bladder and urination. The Magellan Robotic System facilitates a new treatment called “embolization” in which controlled blockage of arteries feeding the enlarged prostate results in shrinkage of the prostate and improved symptoms, with minimal risk of erectile dysfunction or leakage of urine.
Liver and other cancers can be treated with a minimally invasive treatment that cuts off the blood supply feeding a tumor in the liver. Treatment for head and neck cancers and gynecologic cancers that are unresponsive to other treatments are being explored with the Magellan Robotic System.
For more information about procedures that can be performed with the Magellan Robotic System, please call the Interventional Radiology Department at 201-833-7268 or visit holyname.org/magellan.
