Recipient: Freiburg University Hospital
Funding: GO-Bio initial conceptual phase 4 (01/10/2023 to 30/09/2024, EUR 119,934.00)

Project description:

Tricuspid regurgitation is a heart valve disorder in which the valve between the right atrium and the right ventricle does not properly close. As a result, blood flows back into the atrium during the contraction of the ventricle. Symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath and swollen legs. Catheter-based procedures, which are less traumatic are performed for treatment. However, since the imaging techniques used for this purpose only allow indirect vision, these interventions may have been difficult or even impossible to perform up until this point.

The Oculotec project aims to develop the innovative Oculotec cannula, through which cameras or instruments can be inserted into the heart. Pathologies of the right heart can be treated with catheter support under direct vision using a heart-lung machine.

It is not currently possible to look directly into the interior of the beating right heart or to perform interventional reconstructions via a peripheral vascular access under direct vision. The Oculotec cannula makes this possible for the first time. The safety and effectiveness of tricuspid valve surgeries, which are sometimes difficult and prone to error, such as valve reconstructions or replacements, can thus be increased or made possible in the first place. In addition, the development of completely new therapeutic methods is conceivable.

In the upcoming exploratory phase a concept for the best possible use of the Oculotec cannula will be developed. To this end an IP strategy will be developed, market and competition will be analysed, a laboratory sample will be developed and an implementation plan for the preclinical tests in the subsequent feasibility phase will be drawn up.