St. Jude Medical Inc. today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its TactiCath Quartz irrigated ablation catheter, which gives physicians a real-time, objective measure of the force that the catheter applies to a patient’s heart wall during an ablation procedure. TactiCath Quartz contact-force technology was designed to provide physicians with more control to modify that force during ablation procedures in order to create more effective lesions for patients being treated for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). The technology is associated with a reduction in the rate of AF recurrence when optimal treatment measures are used.

Miracor Medical Systems announced today the successful launch of its next-generation Pressure-Controlled Intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion (PICSO) Impulse System for the treatment of myocardial infarction. The new PICSO Impulse System, consisting of the Impulse Console and Impulse Balloon Catheters, is CE-marked and has already been used to treat patients in the U.K., Ireland and Hungary.

Infraredx Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement with HealthTrust, a group purchasing organization. Under the agreement, HealthTrust will offer the Infraredx TVC Imaging System, a novel dual-modality intravascular imaging technology, to its member network of 1,400 acute care facilities.

El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California, became one of the first hospitals in California to adopt a new minimally invasive system to treat patients with narrowed, failing aortic heart valves who are considered to be at high risk to undergo surgery.

 

Annie Henderson, 69, suffers from multiple chronic ailments, including kidney failure and mitral valve insufficiency. The latter turned her life into a battle for breath, eliminating almost all activities and even making sleep a struggle. She couldn’t sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time without waking in a fit of coughing. Thanks to a leading-edge procedure performed at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, Mrs. Henderson is now breathing – and sleeping – easy.

Merit Medical Systems Inc. recently unveil its new ThinkRadial website and educational initiative at thinkradial.com.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the EverFlex Self-Expanding Peripheral Stent System and outlined unsuitable candidates for the system.

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