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ABOUT
US
The EsoSure Story - What are the odds?
In 2005 the EsoSure Esophageal Retractor was invented by an EP nurse, Steve Miller, after a patient in his department was diagnosed and treated for an injured esophagus following his AFib Ablation. The patient spent 5 days in the ICU, was followed up aggressively, and was one of the lucky few who survived as the mortality rate for atrial esophageal fistulas is around 80%.
Terrified by this complication, Steve engineered a simple way to prevent it from happening again. A short time later he tested his idea by putting a Salem Sump gastric tube down his own throat, took a baseline fluoro image, bent a rainbow curve near the end of a .035 guidewire, inserted the wire into the OG tube, hopped back up on the fluoro table and took another image.
It worked. The esophagus moved laterally. His EP Lab used contrast to monitor the esophagus in their procedures and they frequently saw the esophagus move by itself. The wire mimicked physiologic migration, making it very safe.
Taking drawings, sample wires, and his idea to a local patent attorney's office, Steve waited at the conference table. And who was the patent attorney who sat down on the other side of the table? ...his patient whose esophagus had been damaged and who could have died without early diagnosis and aggressive treatment.
It took ten years of patent work, FDA hurdles, testing on cadavers, two animal studies (at a very famous research facility), researching, redesigning, looking for a manufacturing company to help take the final steps, self inserting 4 more OG tubes and self-testing 16 additional retractors before releasing the first device. The EsoSure has now been available for 8 years and used over 43,000 times to move the esophagus.
If nurse Steve can do this, so can you. Don’t allow limits to be placed on your potential.