St Jude Medical has received an Innovation Award for its HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist system (LVAS) at the 2016 CARDIOSTIM EHRA EUROPACE International Congress of electrophysiology and cardiac technology.
Mark Carlson, chief medical officer at St Jude Medical and Philippe Ritter, chairman of CardioStim and heart rhythm specialist at the University Hospital of Bordeaux (Bordeaux, France).
Each year, an international panel of experts, scientists and physicians gather to review the latest in medical technology. The HeartMate 3 LVAS was awarded in the category of Patient Care Improvement. The circulatory assist device is available to heart failure patients as a cardiac support option for advanced heart failure patients who are awaiting transplantation, are not candidates for heart transplantation, or are in myocardial recovery.
The St Jude Medical Nanostim leadless pacemaker previously received the innovation award at CARDIOSTIM 2014.
“The CARDIOSTIM INNOVATION AWARDS aim at honouring the performance, achievement and cutting-edge technologies designed by manufacturers that are created to modernise medical practice and improve patient care,” says Ritter. “The HeartMate 3 cardiac assist device brings real benefit to patients suffering from heart failure and is an encouraging solution, in particular, for those awaiting transplantation.”
The HeartMate 3 LVAS is the first commercially approved centrifugal-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) utilising Full MagLev technology, which is designed to allow the device’s rotor to be “suspended” by magnetic forces. This design aims to reduce trauma to blood passing through the pump and improve outcomes for patients.
“We are honoured to receive this prestigious award from the clinical community for our HeartMate 3 System,” says Mark Carlson, vice president of global clinical affairs and chief medical officer at St Jude Medical. “Heart failure remains one of the most costly epidemic diseases in the world, and the HeartMate 3 system is critical to helping physicians manage their complex patients battling such a challenging condition.”
According to a company release, CE mark approval for the HeartMate 3 LVAS was based on data from the HeartMate 3 CE mark clinical trial, which met its primary endpoint and demonstrated a 92% six month survival rate. Enrolment included both bridge-to-transplant and destination therapy patients in New York Hospital Association Class IIIb or IV heart failure. In the USA, the HeartMate 3 LVAS is in an ongoing Investigational Devices Exemption (IDE) trial. The MOMENTUM 3 IDE trial remains ongoing and will enrol more than 1,000 patients.
