Heartport Inc., Redwood City, Calif., has acquired Utah Biomedical Test Laboratory, 520 Wakara Way, a 50,000-square-foot surgical laboratory built by the National Institute of Health as the research and development center for the nation's artificial heart program.
The company will convert UBTL into the Heartport Research and Training Center, which will serve as the principal American training center for Port-Access minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Hundreds of surgical teams will be trained in the facility annually, company officials said."This acquisition is a great leap forward for Heartport in that it enables the company to establish the pre-eminent training capability in the field of minimally invasive cardiac surgery, and to take immediate and maximum advantages of the Food and Drug Administration clearances the company received earlier this month on its Port Access systems," said Dr. Wesley D. Sterman, Heartport's president and chief executive officer.
UBTL consists of an extensive range of surgical suites and multi-functional laboratories, a catheterization laboratory and lecture and symposium facilities.
The center will be the first of its kind dedicated exclusively to education in and the advancement of minimally invasive heart surgery and will allow Heartport to accelerate its American training activities.
The company's Port Access systems are designed to allow surgeons to perform a wide range of heart operations through small incisions or "ports" between the ribs, eliminating the need to crack open the patient's chest.
Company officials believe this process will reduce the trauma, complications and pain associated with heart surgery, shorten hospital stays, reduce recovery time and lower overall costs.