TVA Medical has won the 2014 Innovations in Cardiovascular Interventions (ICI) Best Start-Up Innovation Award. The company received the top international honor for its everlinQ System, a catheter-based technology designed to create hemodialysis access for chronic kidney disease patients in a minimally-invasive procedure.
The investigational technique has the potential to revolutionise how patients with chronic kidney failure receive ongoing hemodialysis. Today, dialysis patients typically receive open vascular surgery that often requires repeat procedures in order to be connected to the dialysis machine.
The three main criteria included in the judging process are: impact on novelty; impact on patient care; and business potential. As a prize, TVA Medical has been invited to present everlinQ to physicians from around the world at EuroPCR 2015.
"We developed the endovascular arteriovenous fistula (AVF) approach after observing suboptimal results with current surgical AV fistulas for renal failure patients," said William E. Cohn, M.D., co-founder of TVA Medical, professor of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, cardiac surgeon and director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at Texas Heart Institute. "Our clinical studies to date show strong promise for a less-invasive approach, and we're gratified to receive this prestigious innovation award."
"Worldwide more than 2 million patients with chronic kidney failure require a vascular access to enable their connection to life-sustaining dialysis, but currently must undergo an invasive and often unreliable surgical procedure to receive this treatment," said Adam L. Berman, CEO of TVA Medical. "We are committed to continued clinical validation of the everlinQ System, and this ICI award provides substantiation that our technology is disruptive and important for patients."