Innovations in the Development and Uses of Cardiac Electrical Mapping Systems
Session Organizers: Paul Iaizzo, University of Minnesota and Tim Laske, Medtronic
Development of Affera and Rhythmia Mapping Systems
Doron Harlev
VP of Affera Strategy, Cardiac Ablation Solutions
Medtronic
Doron is the CEO of Mount Heart Labs. Previously, he served as Vice President at Medtronic, following its 2022 acquisition of Affera, where he was founder and CEO. Affera developed a comprehensive suite of therapeutic and mapping solutions for the catheter ablation treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Prior to Affera, Doron was the co-founder/CEO of Rhythmia Medical, which was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2012.
Doron began his professional career in an elite R&D unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. He holds over 200 issued and pending patents and is active as an investor, advisor, and board member to various startup companies.
Doron earned an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, an MSEE from Tel Aviv University, and a BSEE from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Uses of Mapping Systems for the Treatment of Complex Arrhythmias
Luigi Pannone
Cardiologist
UZ Brussel
Short Biography:
Luigi Pannone, MD - PhD is a cardiologist and electrophysiologist at the HRMC department of UZ Brussel.
Educational Background:
Luigi Pannone graduated summa cum laude in medicine at “University Federico II”, Naples, Italy. He graduated summa cum laude in cardiology at “University Vita-Salute San Raffaele”, Milan, Italy. He completed the postgraduate program in electrophysiology and pacing at UZ Brussel-VUB, Brussels, Belgium. He completed a PhD in medical science at VUB University in Brussels, Belgium.
Research Field:
His research focuses on inherited arrhythmias and channelopathies, ventricular arrhythmias and hybrid solutions to heart rhythm diseases. He is co-author of more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Achievements and Memberships:
He received the 2023 AHA Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award – Belgium
He is a fellow of EHRA, FEHRA
He is member of the following societies: ESC, AHA, EHRA, HRS
Session Organizers
Paul A. Iaizzo, PhD FHRS is a Professor is the Departments of Surgery, Integrative Biology & Physiology and the Carlson School of Management, at the University of Minnesota. He also serves on the graduate faculties in Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Integrative Biology & Physiology, Biological Science, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and Mechanical Engineering. He is the Director of the Malignant Hyperthermia Diagnostic Center and Medtronic Professor of Visible Heart® Research. Additionally, he is the Associate Director and Medtronic Chair of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine, also at the University of Minnesota. He earned both MS and PhD degrees (Focus: Physiology/Neurophysiology) from the University of Minnesota. His main research focus is translational systems physiology, where his research group does a broad range of studies. The Visible Heart® Laboratories are well known for their multimodal imaging techniques of functional cardiac anatomies and device testing within large mammalian hearts, including human: see the Atlas of Human Cardiac Anatomy (http://www.vhlab.umn.edu/atlas/). Other research areas include: cardiac pacing and ablation, muscle pathophysiology and biophysical properties, thermoregulation, black bear hibernation, 3D computational modeling and printing and educational uses of virtual reality. In 2002, he was acknowledged as a “Distinguished University Teaching Professor”. Since 1990, he has trained over 200 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and medical students in his laboratories. Dr. Iaizzo, has authored more than 280 original articles, over 100 book chapters, edited 5 books, and is on numerous patents related to medical devices. In 2012, he was named to College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for "outstanding contributions to research and education in translational systems physiology and cardiovascular engineering". In 2015 he was named a Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society and in 2016 was made a Senior Fellow of IEEE.
Tim Laske, PhD
Vice President, Research & Development
Medtronic
Adjunct Assistant Professor
University of Minnesota
Dr. Tim Laske is currently the Vice President of Research & Development for the Cardiac Ablation Solutions Business at Medtronic. He is a Medtronic Bakken Fellow and Technical Fellow and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. His previous roles at Medtronic include VP of Research and Business Development for AF Solutions, Senior Product Development Director for Heart Valves, Senior Program Director for Transcatheter Heart Valves, Technology Director for Cardiac Rhythm Therapy Delivery, and various technology management and design engineering positions. Prior to his 31-year tenure at Medtronic, he worked as a Design Engineer at Ford Motor Company in Crash Safety and Advanced Vehicle Systems Engineering. He has a B.S. degree in both Biological Sciences and Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minnesota where he serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery. His doctoral research was centered on the use of isolated working hearts in the design of medical devices and in parallel co-founded the Visible Heart® Laboratories. In addition to medical device design and cardiac physiology, his research interests include the study of hibernation physiology in wild black bear and brown bear populations and conservation of endangered species. He has more than 95 U.S. patents and numerous publications in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Wildlife Biology/Ecology.