Transcatheter aortic and pulmonic valve replacements are shaping up to become attractive alternatives to open heart surgery, as we have seen with products such as Melody Pulmonary Valve and Edwards Sapien Aortic Valve. But the same cannot be said of mitral replacements.
The mitral valve has a complicated anatomy, as well as a precarious intracardiac left AV position that’s difficult to access. Then there is also the issue of a complex etiology of mitral regurgitation, such as ring dilation, chordae rupture, or cusp damage. So the transcatheter MVR development has seen its share of failures and difficulties. Now CardiAQ of Winchester, Massachusetts thinks that it has developed a novel percutaneous solution for mitral regurgitation patients that doesn’t use a radial force to attach the artificial valve, overcoming the main problem of performing mitral valve replacement. To help move the company’s Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI) forward, the firm just finished a $6.5 million ‘Series A’ fund raiser, giving us hope that we might be seeing this technology in cath labs within a short period of time.
1. INSERTION. A catheter carrying the replacement valve is threaded through the femoral vein and up into the right atrium of the heart. It is passed through the intra-atrial septum, into the left atrium, and down through the mitral annulus.
2. POSITIONING. The valve is partially expanded to engage the ventricular side of the annulus and establish the proper position. While the valve is now functional, it can be recaptured and adjusted prior to final deployment, if necessary.
3. ANCHORING. With the valve in position, the sheath is retracted fully. Foreshortening of the frame creates a clamping action that anchors the valve above and below the annulus.
Company page: CardiAQ…
Press release: CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CVT) Closes $6.5 Million ‘Series A’ Funding for Its Novel Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI) System…
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