Rochester, Minnesota – Nov 7, 2024 – SpectroCor participated in the prestigious Mayo Clinic Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit, presenting its spectrophotometry-based technology for observation of myocardial tissue oxygenation during cardiac surgery.
Mayo Clinic’s Surgical Innovation Summit
The Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit, hosted by Mayo Clinic, brings together leading surgeons, innovators, researchers, and medical technology companies to discuss emerging surgical technologies and the future of patient care. The event is recognized as an important forum for advancing innovation in surgery and fostering collaboration between clinicians, academia, and industry.
Inspired by Real Clinical Experience
The idea behind the technology originated directly from clinical experience in the operating room. SpectroCor Co-founder and Chair Tommi Pätilä, MD, PhD, a pediatric heart and transplant surgeon, developed the concept after years of encountering the same unanswered question during surgery: what is truly happening inside the myocardium during ischemic arrest?
“In cardiac surgery, there are moments when the heart is completely dependent on the protection we provide,” said Dr. Pätilä. “Yet surgeons have traditionally had very limited direct insight into how the myocardial tissue is actually responding during ischemia. We rely on protocols, indirect indicators, and experience. I wanted to develop a way to observe the physiological status of the myocardium itself in real time during surgery.”
Strong Engagement from the Surgical Community
“The most meaningful conversations at the summit were with surgeons who immediately recognized the clinical need,” Dr. Pätilä said. “When you have spent years operating on critically ill patients, you understand how valuable additional physiological insight could be during these procedures. The possibility of directly observing changes in myocardial tissue oxygenation during surgery opens entirely new research and clinical perspectives.”
Throughout the event, SpectroCor discussed the scientific principles behind the technology, ongoing development efforts, and future opportunities for clinical collaboration and research.
SpectroCor continues to advance its technology through ongoing development and clinical collaboration across Europe and the United States. The technology presented at the Mayo Clinic Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit is under development and not yet available for sales.