The Need for Extra-PVs Approaches

During the years spanning from the 2000s to the 2010s, various new extra-PVs approaches emerged, prompted by the lack of efficacy of anatomical approaches for the treatment of persistent AF. However, these new approaches were often difficult to reproduce and the results inconclusive. In parallel, the rapid advancement of new mapping technologies in the electrophysiology field enabled physicians to better understand arrhythmia's mechanism and develop signal-centered approaches.

Julien Seitz, Clément Bars, Jérome Kalifa and Théophile Mohr Durdez

The Definition of Spatio- temporal Dispersion

In September 2013, two cardiologists, Dr. Julien Seitz and Dr. Clément Bars began a clinical study called "Substrate HD", to clinically validate their EGM-based ablation approach. The objective was to map and ablate the extravenous drivers responsible for atrial fibrillation, known as “spatio-temporal dispersion zones”.
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The two physicians joined forces with Dr. André Pisapia's team at St Joseph Hospital in Marseille, which employed a signal-based approach for atrial fibrillation. During this time, they met Dr. Jérôme Kalifa, MD, PhD, who had focused much of his research on mathematical models to understand better AF mechanisms. The collaboration of the four physicians started, aiming to refine the concept of spatio-temporal dispersion.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence

In 2016, the project took a significant leap forward. They recognized that a traditional algorithm could not faithfully reproduce the multi-parametric analysis performed by the human brain. They realized that leveraging AI and machine learning algorithms would enable them to replicate their expert analysis in a reproducible way.
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Towards the end of 2016, Théophile Mohr Durdez, a talented data scientist student from the top French engineering school Polytechnique, joined the project. His pivotal role was to develop the required machine/deep learning algorithms, bringing the project closer to becoming a tangible reality.
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Due to the efforts of these four founding members, Volta Medical was born.

From an Idea to a to a Finalized Product

In 2017, the results of the clinical study Substrate HD were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, confirming the link between clustering of intracardiac electrograms exhibiting spatiotemporal dispersion and AF drivers. The same year, the first product prototype, VX1, was introduced. VX1 software obtained CE-marking in January 2020 and FDA clearance in September 2020.
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Our software has continued to evolve with the introduction of Volta AF-Xplorer in the US (pending CE-mark). To learn more about our latest achievements, check out our detailed timeline & latest press releases.