Farrer Park Hospital is Singapore's First Private Hospital to Implant World's Smallest Cardiac Pacemaker

SINGAPORE,March 28,2019 -- Farrer Park Hospital (FPH),Singapore's newest private healthcare service provider,successfully implanted the world's smallest pacemaker,the Medtronic Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS),into a 76 year old male Chinese patient. This small and leadless device is implanted through a minimally invasive procedure.

The hospital's vision of caring through fresh solutions and fair value has been exemplified through this very procedure as only a handful of doctors in Singapore are trained to implant this advance device. The FPH team,led by Cardiologist Dr. Ruth Kam,operated on the patient at the Hospital's Cardiovascular Suite (CVS).

Farrer Park Hospital is a full tertiary acute hospital that performs complex surgeries and treats complicated conditions. As such,implanting such an advanced device is unlike the usual pacemaker implantation. "In my more than 20 years of implanting pacemakers,this is the first time that I have implanted a pacemaker without any wires. The whole system (battery,circuitry and wire) has been shrunk down to a capsule-sized device that is one tenth of the volume. The procedure is short and the patient has no visible reminders of the pacemaker on the outside," said Dr. Kam.

The CVS team,which includes the medical technologists,radiographers and particularly nurses,were trained on the specific requirements on their roles in the process,understanding the details of the procedure and given hands-on practice to ensure seamless teamwork in assisting the doctor during the operation.

The purpose built CVS at FPH is an integrated facility encompassing three operating theatres specific to cardiovascular procedures. Operating Room A is a combination catheterization laboratory and hybrid operating theatre. During the procedure,continuous fluoroscopy was used to acquire high resolution images during the deployment of the device. In the event of any emergency,the patient would already be in a fully functional operating theatre.

In the 2016 Medical Tourism Index,Singapore ranked 4th globally among medical tourism destinations,as the pinnacle of quality for advanced medical treatment and care in the region. Aligned to the evolving healthcare needs of Chinese outbound patients for treatment of critical diseases such as neurological and cardiovascular diseases and cancer,FPH has some of the most experienced cardiologists,cardio-thoracic surgeons and oncologists in the region. These skilled specialists from various specialties work together to cover a myriad of related conditions that affect patients with complex conditions. "The popular treatments that medical tourists come for range from simple angiograms to the more complex bypasses. We have done close to 140 complex cardiac surgeries with zero adverse morbidity," said Dr. Peng Chung Mien,Chief Executive Officer of FPH.

Dr. Ruth Kam adds,"FPH is the newest private hospital and,as a hospital designed by physicians,their operating facilities are impressive. Having done multiple procedures here,the operating rooms and standard of clinical support staff gave me the assurance that this is the most appropriate place to implant the device."

The good patient outcomes are supported by FPH's advanced facilities with large hybrid theatres and state-of-the-art equipment which forms an ecosystem. A system which appeals to our Chinahealthcare professionals from eminent organizations,such as Lingholm Holdings,Amber Global Medical Services,OCCB International and more who are keen to gain exposure to Singapore's healthcare environment. These mutual learning and interactive discussions on the healthcare industry strengthen ties with our China partners and FPH will continue to reach out with more learning collaborations that benefits the community.  

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