Siemens Healthineers and HeartFlow Team Up to Lower Cardiac Care Costs

Siemens Healthineers and HeartFlow Inc. have entered into a global collaboration agreement to provide a comprehensive, noninvasive solution to support the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). HeartFlow is a pioneer in personalized medical technology to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of CAD. Siemens Healthineers aims to enable healthcare providers to meet current challenges and excel in their respective environments. To execute this strategy in the field of cardiology, Siemens Healthineers is collaborating with HeartFlow and contributing its strength in computed tomography (CT).
 
The collaboration’s joint solution pairs CT scanners from Siemens Healthineers, which provide excellent image quality, with the HeartFlow FFRct Analysis, the first noninvasive technology to provide insight into both the extent of coronary artery disease and the impact that disease has on blood flow to the heart.
 
Using CT images, the HeartFlow FFRct Analysis creates a personalized 3D model of each patient’s arteries; computer algorithms then simulate blood flow and assess the impact of arterial blockages. The combined clinical pathway of coronary CT angiography (cCTA) and the HeartFlow FFRct Analysis offers actionable information that helps physicians determine each patient’s optimal course of treatment. Published clinical data1demonstrate that use of the HeartFlow FFRct Analysis may prevent unnecessary invasive angiograms.
 
Although the United States is the initial commercial focus of this collaboration agreement, the two companies plan to expand their efforts to additional geographic markets in the future.
 
“It is a fact that the treatment planning for coronary artery disease patients can be improved via quantitative data out of FFR measurements. With our exciting partnership between Siemens Healthineers and HeartFlow, Inc., we create an integrated solution that combines the exceptional cCTA images acquired by our high performance scanners with the only commercial product available that can derive FFR analysis noninvasively from CT data,” said André Hartung, Head of Computed Tomography at Siemens Healthineers.
 
“HeartFlow is pleased to collaborate with Siemens Healthineers, with its outstanding technology, tremendous expertise, and global reach,” said John H. Stevens, MD, chairman and CEO of HeartFlow. “Like HeartFlow, Siemens Healthineers is deeply committed to helping clinicians improve the patient experience and clinical outcomes while also helping them to reduce the total cost of healthcare. By working together, we can ensure this technology gets to every patient who can benefit from it.”