Device developed for defective heart valves
An Irish medical devices company has developed a minimally invasive product to help treat defective heart valves, Irish Times have reported.
The device was developed by CroíValve to treat tricuspid valve regurgitation, a condition where the tricuspid heart valve doesn’t close properly, causing the blood to leak backwards. The condition affects over half a million people every year in the EU and US. The company state its device could help transform and extend the lives of those with the condition.
The company is based at Trinity College’s centre for Bioengineering and expects to spinout from the university in 2018.
CroíValve was founded by chief executive Lucy O’Keeffe, interventional cardiologist Martin Quinn who invented the device, engineer Paul Heneghan and associate professor at Trinity’s Biomechanical Engineering, Bruce Murphy.
Speaking about the device, O’Keeffe said: “Surgery is too high risk for these patients so our device is delivered using a technique similar to that used to implant a pacemaker. Once in place, our device works in tandem with the native valve to prevent backflow.”
From treating patients with heart failure, Martin could see how novel technology could transform their lives. Where previously there was no feasible treatment option or someone had to spend months recovering from the trauma of open heart surgery, they could walk out of hospital a few days after a transcatheter aortic valve implant. He saw that other valves in the heart could benefit from this type of treatment option and that a solution with a simple implantation technique would have the best chance of success and wide scale adoption.”
The device was funded by private investment and commercialisation grant of €500,000 from Enterprise Ireland. The company is now launching a multi-million funding round to help promote the device.
O’Keeffe continued: “The device requires extensive testing and clinical evaluation to ensure it is safe and effective so it will be around 2020 when we see the first ‘in man’ implants. At the moment, we are working with key opinion leaders in the area of transcatheter valve intervention to ensure the benefits of the CroíValve solution are fully understood by the cardiology community.”
Speaking about tricuspid valve regurgitation, O’Keeffe said: “Patients with TR endure long and repeated hospitalisations because this disease causes loss of appetite, reduced absorption of medication, impaired kidney function and increased cardiovascular issues – meaning they have no quality of life. Currently, less than 1% of patients receive surgical treatment.”