Nick West discusses advances in Shockwave IVL technologies

Shockwave Medical, a part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech, continues to expand the scope of intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) as adoption of the technology grows across coronary and peripheral interventions, according to Nick West, MD, the company's chief medical officer.

West said IVL has rapidly moved from a niche therapy to a routine tool for treating complex calcified disease. “From the launch around 2017, certainly in the coronary space, we saw an uptick from zero to nearly 7% in only a year and a bit. And now we're north of 10% penetration in the coronary procedures,” he said, noting that this figure does not include peripheral use. He added that Shockwave recently marked a major milestone, with 1 million patients treated, calling it “a hell of a milestone for eight years in use.”

A key driver of that continued growth is the company’s focus on innovation driven by physician feedback. 

“At Shockwave, we have a culture of innovation,” West said. “We are committed to delivering patients the best treatments, and that means listening to their physicians and their needs, which we need to then work on and give back to them.”