pulsed-field ablation (PFA) Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

The top 10 cardiac device stories of 2022

[Image from Pixabay]From pulsed-field ablation to non-invasive monitoring, this was an exciting year for cardiac device tech.

Here are the top 10 cardiac device stories from MassDevice and its sister sites:

10. Medtronic to pay Acutus $17M following EU MDR submission of left-heart access portfolio

Earlier this year, Acutus agreed to sell its left-heart access portfolio to Medtronic for $50 million.

9. Abbott confirms first implants of its dual-chamber leadless pacemaker system

The company designed its i2i technology to provide beat-by-beat communication between two leadless pacemakers, with one positioned on the right ventricle and the other in the right atrium.

8. Boston Scientific completes $1.75B Baylis Medical acquisition

The deal expanded Boston Scientific’s electrophysiology and structural heart product portfolios to include the radiofrequency (RF) NRG and VersaCross transseptal platforms. It also gained a family of guidewires, sheaths an…

Applications of electrical energy in medicine: RF ablation, pulsed-field ablation and electroporation

Learn about new and promising applications of energy-based medical systems and the challenges of developing them.

An engineer develops the pulsed waveform output for a PFA system. [Photo courtesy of Minnetronix Medical]

Daniel Friedrichs, Minnetronix Medical

While modern medicine is awash in high-tech electronics from large surgical robots to tiny implanted sensors, there are several applications where electrical energy is directly applied to a patient to ablate tissue, convey drugs, or achieve other clinical effects.

Given the obvious concerns with applying electricity to humans, developing these tools safely and effectively is crucial.

This article briefly reviews these applications of electrical energy in medicine and new opportunities to refine existing technology such as radiofrequency (RF) ablation or realize radical improvements using new energy modalities such as pulsed-field ablation (PFA…

Farapulse founder’s Field Medical partners with CardioNXT on novel pulsed-field ablation tech

Field Medical and CardioNXT announced a strategic collaboration to provide what they say is a first-of-its-kind pulsed-field ablation (PFA) therapy.

The two companies plan to provide a purpose-built PFA therapy integrated with 3D mapping and navigation.

According to a news release, both teams bring decades of experience in pioneering novel PFA and navigation technologies. Their experiences range across various medical applications.

“PFA has generated much excitement in the treatment of atrial fibrillation due to an improved safety profile and procedural workflow. However, most of the first-generation PFA technologies today are repurposed from other applications and suffer from significant limitations outside a subset of AFib procedures,” said Dr. Steven Mickelsen, CEO of Field Medical. “This collaboration brings together second-generation focal PFA and AI-based cardiac mapping—a combination set to revolutionize catheter ablation across …

Why Affera’s cardiac ablation technology is worth $1B to Medtronic

Affera’s Sphere-9 mapping and ablation catheter [Photo courtesy of Affera]

Affera started in 2014 with a simple goal that paid off when Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) bought the company for up to $1 billion this year.

Achieving that goal, however, took some unconventional and sometimes difficult design choices, Affera founder and CEO Doron Harlev said.

Newton, Massachusetts–based Affera’s system diagnoses, maps and treats heart arrhythmias with ablation. It’s a process that scars heart tissue to interrupt errant signals. Affera’s system uses both radiofrequency (RF) ablation — as well as the non-thermal pulsed-field ablation tech that has been generating buzz in medtech.

Complex arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia can require an electrophysiologist to perform more extensive ablation. But Harlev and his team at Affera thought a larger ablation tip could ma…

What is pulsed-field ablation? Here’s what you need to know

Top experts at Boston Scientific, Medtronic and Acutus Medical shared insights about pulsed-field ablation’s potential at DeviceTalks Boston. Part of the Farapulse pulsed-field ablation system, the Farawave single-shot catheter is designed to create durable and circumferential lesions. [Image courtesy of Boston Scientific]Pulsed-field ablation is a non-thermal method for cardiac ablation that has the potential to positively disrupt the way atrial fibrillation is treated.

PFA’s roots go back to the dc ablation tech of the 1980s. These days, PFA generally involves high-voltage electric pulses from a catheter-delivered electrode or electrodes, delivered each at a tiny fraction of a second. Its potential advantages versus radiofrequency ablation or cryoablation include the characteristic that heart muscle tissue can be especially susceptible to it, while other types of surrounding tissue are injury resistant.

It’s hard these days to find a cardiac device company…

What is the future of cardiac ablation?

Boston Scientific in July 2021 exercised its option to acquire the remaining shares of PFA tech developer Farapulse. [Image courtesy of Boston Scientific]Pulsed-field ablation (PFA) — a non-thermal method for cardiac ablation — has the potential to positively disrupt the atrial fibrillation market.

Amid the excitement around the technology, Medtronic announced in January that it would acquire cardiac mapping and ablation technology developer Affera for nearly $1 billion. Meanwhile, Boston Scientific in February closed its $1.75 billion acquisition of Baylis Medical — the creator of advanced transseptal puncture platforms to enhance safety, efficacy and efficiency when crossing the atrial septum to deliver therapies in the left side of the heart. Months before, Boston Scientific exercised its option to acquire the remaining shares of PFA tech developer Farapulse.

Come to DeviceTalks Boston — May 10-11, 2022 — and hear from leaders at Boston Scientific, Medtronic an…