Traditional Transesophageal Echocardiography (TE) is a very commonly used method of examining the heart and heart function with ultrasound. The test is performed by a cardiologist who passes a TE probe via the patients mouth, and the patient swallows the probe into their esophagus.

Since the esophagus lies right next to the heart, the images obtained from TE are superior to the images obtained with Echocardiography where the ultrasound probe is simply placed on the skin of the chest of a patient. The shortcoming of traditional TE is that the TE probe is passed through the mouth by feel, that is, without any optical guidance. The larynx, or voice box, sits between the mouth and the esophagus, so when a probe is blindly passed in this area of the body, the vocal cords can be inadvertently traumatized.

We are currently working on the development of an Optical TE probe which will allow direct visualization of the structures in the throat as the TE probe is placed into the esophagus.

Please note: An abstract was recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) regarding our initial findings.

The study involved 60 consecutive patients who were undergoing a regularly scheduled Transesophageal Echocardiography (TE) procedure.

The patients were randomized to one of two groups:

Group 1. The physician performing the procedure carried out the procedure in the traditional (blind) manner. That is, the TE probe was placed in the patients mouth along the throat, and then directed into the esophagus (the structure that connects the throat to the stomach) by feel.

Group 2. The physician performing the procedure carried out the procedure while looking at a monitor that showed real-time images of where the transesophageal echocardiography probe was traveling in the patients throat before it was directed under direct visualization into the esophagus.

The results of the study were that patients who had the TE probe passed under optical visualization had a statistically significant less chance of trauma to the throat structures than patients who had the traditional (non-optically guided) method of TE-probe placement.

We are continuing the study since the initial 60 patients, and have over 160 patients now enrolled.