Professor William Wijns, co-director of EuroPCR and chairman of PCR, has joined NUI Galway as a professor of medical devices. He will head the $5 million research project to develop wearable sensors for patients at high risk of heart attacks.

Thoratec Corporation, a world leader in mechanical circulatory support therapies to save, support and restore failing hearts, announced that the FDA has granted conditional approval for a U.S. IDE clinical trial to investigate use of the HeartMate PHP acute catheter-based heart pump in patients undergoing a high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention.

Are Riata concerns a thing of the past and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for almost anyone with severe aortic stenosis the way of the future? Presentations at recent cardiology conferences addressed those questions.

Edwards Lifesciences put enrollment into a program using its FORTIS transcatheter valve replacement therapy on hold, announcing that it wants to investigate reports of valve thrombus.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) continued to hold its own against surgery in low-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis, based on two-year results presented May 19 at EuroPCR in Paris.

Boston Scientific Corporation has initiated full commercial launch of the new POLARIS Imaging System.  This system will support the Boston Scientific family of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) catheters, including coronary, peripheral and intra-cardiac echo products.  The POLARIS System offers enhanced ease-of-use and more powerful processing capabilities.  Its modular design would also support the planned release of new Boston Scientific imaging products including a fractional flow reserve (FFR) wire, a new family of IVUS catheters, enhanced software features and better system control tools.

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) has received CE Mark and begun the European commercial launch of its new 25 mm Lotus Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) System, complementing the currently available 23 mm and 27 mm valve sizes.

Moving toward U.S. market introduction of its novel medical device to treat peripheral artery disease, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) today announced that it recently submitted the final module of its pre-market approval (PMA) application for the IN.PACT Admiral drug-coated balloon to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The application includes data that demonstrates superior clinical outcomes compared with conventional angioplasty, with the lowest rates of repeat procedures (target lesion revascularization) and the highest rate of uninterrupted blood flow (primary patency) at 12 months ever reported for the interventional treatment of peripheral artery disease.