AFIC Lab

AFIC's Research Facilities

At the heart of AFIC's research capabilities is its brand new, state-of-the-art pre-clinical research facilities. Our facilities offer a unique opportunity to work with industry partners for the development and testing of the next generation of AF devices and other therapies. The timeline for companies to broker new research projects with AFIC is quite manageable in most circumstances – six to eight weeks on average – and the quality of the facilities and physicians is unmatched.

The pre-clinical facilities feature two large research laboratories designed to enable both chronic and acute procedures. Proximal to the laboratories is a conscious testing room, fully fitted with treadmill and telemetry equipment permitting the monitoring of animals in our adjacent boarding area. The lab is further comprised of a preparation room, and a conference room with video conferencing capabilities and the ability to view surgeries remotely.

Construction of the laboratory was completed early this year, and over the next several months, the laboratory was fully outfitted with only the most advanced surgical and imaging systems. Once all mandatory inspections were completed to ensure that the laboratories fully met government safety specifications, the laboratory was opened for research. And we hit the ground running.

First experimentation in the laboratory was initiated mid-March, 2007 – a research protocol for Hansen Medical. Since that time, the laboratories have experienced a significant increase in traffic. The number of protocols performed have steadily increased with each passing month, as have the number of solicitations from interested commercial partners.

The AFIC labs are now a world center for training physicians on the use of the Hansen Medical Sensi® system. Hansen Medical's system has recently received FDA approval. Due to our close partnership with Hansen, the Cleveland Clinic has recently become the first center for use of this system for Clinical application. The AFIC labs are also a training site for CardioFocus' laser balloon catheter system, currently in the FDA approval process.

In addition to these training programs and other AFIC-funded research projects currently underway by our physicians, we have partnered with a number of commercial collaborators to pursue sponsored protocols in the laboratories. Some of our industry partners are: Biocontrol, CardioFocus, Hansen Medical, CryoCor, Biosense Webster, Accuson, St. Jude, Siemens, and Reliant, to name a few. There is still sufficient capacity to accommodate additional protocols, and discussions with corporate partners are ongoing. For more information about AFIC's pre-clinical facilities or partnership opportunities, please contact Laura Konczos (koncsosl @ ccf.org).