How XVIVO helped InterShunt bring the Dynama System procedure to life
InterShunt is developing the Dynama System, an investigational transcatheter device designed to relieve elevated left atrial pressure in patients with heart failure by creating a shunt in the interatrial septum — without a permanent implant and without heat or energy. To help physicians and other stakeholders understand exactly how the system works, InterShunt along with boatBurner partnered with XVIVO to create a clear, procedurally accurate mechanism-of-action animation that walks through the therapy step by step, from vascular access to shunt creation.
The Challenge
Heart failure affects more than 6 million Americans, with roughly 960,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Elevated left atrial pressure is a key driver of the symptoms these patients live with — shortness of breath, weakness, and fatigue. The Dynama System potentially offers physicians a new option: a catheter-based procedure designed to create a shunt between the heart’s upper chambers without implanting a permanent device. That “leave nothing behind” approach is unlike anything most interventional cardiologists have seen before, which meant InterShunt needed a way to show how the system navigates to the heart, deploys its capture mechanism, and is designed to create a clean, consistent opening in the septal tissue, while still conveying the control and precision engineered into the device.
The Solution
XVIVO created a one-minute mechanism-of-action animation built around a simple arc: start with the need, introduce the hero, and end on the result. The piece opens on the clinical problem — elevated left atrial pressure and the shortness of breath, weakness, and fatigue it causes — before introducing the Dynama System as a novel device designed to relieve that pressure. From there, it follows the full procedure: venous access and navigation to the heart, then the centerpiece sequence of deployment, tissue capture, and shunt creation. The animation closes on the completed shunt itself, designed to off-load left atrial pressure. Working closely with InterShunt’s clinical and engineering teams, XVIVO translated detailed procedural notes into a visual sequence that intercuts the device’s handle controls with what’s happening inside the heart, so viewers can follow both the physician’s actions at the handle and their effect at the septum in real time.
Implementation
- Script & Storyboard Development: XVIVO worked with InterShunt to translate detailed procedural and engineering notes, including handle-control sequencing and reference imagery, into a clear, chaptered script and storyboard.
- Visual Development: The team developed a visual approach built around precision, controlled motion, and clean device and tissue geometry, using dynamic, multi-angle views to showcase the device in action.
- Animation Production: High-end 3D animation techniques were used to bring the storyboards to life, culminating in a polished, one-minute piece designed for physician-facing use.
What They’re Saying
“You guys did an awesome job on this. Love the process, the team and the outcome! We will work together again!”
Conclusion
By pairing procedural accuracy with accurate, clear, and beautiful visuals and story, XVIVO helps InterShunt take physicians from the problem of elevated left atrial pressure to a clear understanding of how the Dynama System may relieve it.
CAUTION — Investigational device. Limited by Federal (or United States) law to investigational use.