May 16, 2007 — Monebo Technologies Inc. has announced that the CardioBelt Electrode System is now available, following clearance by the FDA.

May 16, 2007 — Stentys has announced that the results of preclinical testing of its bifurcated stent will be reported on Thursday, May 24, 2007, at the "EuroPCR 2007" Cardiovascular Congress in Barcelona, Spain next week as part of the "Innovative Emerging Technologies" program.

Stentys is the first company to develop the next-generation of dedicated drug-eluting stents for treatment of blocked coronary artery bifurcations so that hundreds of thousands of patients might avoid open-chest surgery.

May 15, 2007 — Acorn Cardiovascular has announced that the FDA will consider approval of the CorCap Cardiac Support Device (CSD) based on the successful completion of a prospective confirmatory trial that addresses issues raised by the Medical Device Dispute Resolution Panel and the Circulatory System Devices Panel. The company had completed a 300-patient prospective, randomized pivotal trial and submitted data to the FDA in 2004. However, the two panels voted against approval for the CorCap CSD in December 2006 and June 2005, respectively, citing the need for additional clinical data.

May 15, 2007 — Edwards Lifesciences Corp. announced last week that its subsidiary, Edwards Lifesciences PVT, Inc., has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against CoreValve Inc., of Irvine, Calif., in the District Court of Dusseldorf, Germany. The suit seeks relief for alleged infringement of a patent for transcatheter heart valve technology.

May 15, 2007 — St. Jude Medical Inc. announced last week an expanded European CE Mark approval to include the Therapy Cool Path irrigated ablation catheter with bi-directional steering for use in ablation procedures to treat abnormal heart rhythms.

This catheter is the first open-irrigated ablation catheter to provide bi-directional steering, a feature designed to help physicians maneuver the catheter in difficult areas of the heart and perform complex ablations more efficiently.

May 15, 2007 — Siemens has announced the latest innovation in electrophysiology (EP) solutions with the introduction of syngo DynaCT Cardiac, which enables 3D imaging comparable to computed tomography (CT) in the EP lab during procedures.

May 14, 2007 — More than 25 leading heart advocacy groups have joined to form the Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) Coalition – the very first coalition dedicated to advancing increased research, awareness and educational efforts to address the nation’s number one cardiovascular killer. The Coalition, announced as part of Heart Rhythm 2007, the Society’s 28th Annual Scientific Sessions, will urge Congress and the federal agencies involved in national health policies and programs, to devote more resources to greater public awareness of SCA, research and access to life-saving therapies.

May 14, 2007 — Two renowned experts debated the role of PCI and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for the treatment of patients with left main coronary artery disease during the Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) last week in Orlando, FL.

May 11, 2007 — Northwestern University in Chicago has published results of a one-year study of roughly 5,500 patients who underwent angioplasty for the insertion of drug-eluting stents (DES) — it was found that nearly half of those patients did not fit the standard, approved indications for use set by the FDA.

May 11, 2007 — St. Jude Medical Inc. has announced FDA approval of its new OptiSense lead, a first-of-its-kind "smart" pacing lead designed to offer more accurate sensing in the upper chamber of the heart (right atrium).

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