February 3, 2012 — Medtronic Inc. issued a statement on the results of two studies evaluating the use of the Medtronic CoreValve system delivered through the direct aortic implantation approach. Data presented at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) 48^th annual meeting demonstrate positive outcomes when the CoreValve system is implanted using the direct aortic approach, which received CE mark in November 2011. The direct aortic approach is also being evaluated in the Medtronic CoreValve U.S. pivotal trial.

February 2, 2012 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and representatives from the medical device industry have reached an agreement in principle on proposed recommendations for the third reauthorization of a medical device user fee program.

February 2, 2011 – Biotronik has successfully completed its final interoperability testing process for Biotronik Home Monitoring, an Internet-based system for patient and implantable cardiac device information.