December 28, 2011 – Edwards Lifesciences announced two-year results of a pivotal clinical study of inoperable patients with severe aortic stenosis treated with the Edwards Sapien transcatheter heart valve, which was approved in November by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These data from The PARTNER Trial (Cohort B) demonstrated a widening survival benefit for Sapien valve patients at two years, including significantly less time spent in the hospital.

December 28, 2011 – Hansen Medical, a developer of robotic technology for accurate 3-D control of catheter movement, announced the world's first uses of the Magellan robotic system in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease (PVD). The clinical procedures were performed by Professor Nick Cheshire, M.D., and the medical team at St. Mary's Hospital, part of the Imperial College Healthcare in London, pioneers in the use of flexible robotics in vascular interventions.