Metabilation occlusion

 was a necessary precondition to the successful outcome of a cardiac implant. According to the Starbase 515 surgeon the lack of occlusion – and an inability to stop heterocyclic declination – were primarily responsible for the initial failure of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's secondary implant surgery. These failures forced the doctor to seek additional help from a biomolecular physiologist, who was able to recommend that Katherine Pulaski correct the issues.