Impulse Dynamics appoints medical director to leadership team

Impulse Dynamics, developer of cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) therapy delivered by the Optimizer Smart System, has announced the appointment of Ishu Rao as medical director.

A press release from the company states that Rao is a board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist who previously spent 17 years in clinical practice, with a focus on interventional therapies. Rao received his cardiology training at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, USA, and the Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles, after completing a residency at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He earned his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, after completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I am delighted to join the leadership team at Impulse Dynamics and help contribute to the company’s mission to transform how heart failure is treated,” says Rao. “Having cared for thousands of patients firsthand for nearly two decades, I’ve seen the devastating burden of this condition on patients and their families. These patients have limited therapeutic options, but cardiac contractility modulation, or CCM therapy, can have a profound impact on their quality of life and is a reason for many of them to feel hopeful again.”

According to Impulse Dynamics, CCM therapy, delivered by the Optimizer Smart system, is a heart failure treatment that sends precisely timed electrical pulses to the heart during the absolute refractory period of the beating cycle, just after the heart contracts. CCM therapy is specifically designed to improve systolic contraction in an effort to deliver more oxygen-rich blood to the body. Optimizer Smart was granted Breakthrough Device designation by the FDA and is the first and only FDA-approved device in the USA or elsewhere for the delivery of CCM therapy.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr Rao to the Impulse Dynamics team,” says Simos Kedikoglou, chief executive officer of Impulse Dynamics. “He is an outstanding leader in the cardiology community and will play an instrumental role in helping us establish CCM therapy as a new standard of care for treating heart failure.”

The statement outlines that CCM therapy may be an appropriate treatment option for approximately 70% of NYHA Class III heart failure patients who remain symptomatic despite guideline-directed medical therapy.