Implanted patches of iPS cell-derived heart muscle integrated with heart tissue in a primate model of heart failure, and in patients being treated in a clinical trial, marks progress toward a potential option for patients with advanced heart failure.

A new bioprinting platform to create tissues that can change shape as a result of forces generated by the cells, similar to what happens naturally during organ development, was developed by researchers from the University of Galway, Ireland.

Researchers from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California filed for protection of a pacemaker with a unique shape and configuration which is low profile.

Boston Scientific Corp. reported positive data for two key atrial fibrillation therapies at AF Symposium 2025 on January 17. In late-breaking data presentations, the ADVANTAGE AF trial for the Farapulse PFA system met its primary endpoints, showing a 2.3% safety event rate and 63.5% effectiveness rate in treating persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, with an 85.3% symptomatic AF recurrence-free rate. Additionally, a sub-analysis of the OPTION trial demonstrated that the Watchman FLX device significantly reduced bleeding outcomes compared to oral anticoagulants.

The Medicare coverage story of the Cardiomems device has a Homeric air about it, spanning nearly a decade starting with an adverse local coverage determination in 2016. Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories finally brought the story full circle with a successful national coverage determination that gives the device nationwide coverage for Medicare patients without the need to wrangle with Medicare administrative contractors.

The sedate uptake of pulsed field ablation (PFA) in Europe failed to presage the enthusiasm that drove the technology’s extraordinarily rapid adoption in the U.S. in 2024. Used to treat atrial fibrillation, PFA received its first U.S. FDA approval in Dec. 2023. At the time, Clarivate estimated that PFA had 7% of the global cardiac ablation market. By year-end 2024, it had 20% and Boston Scientific Corp. projected that PFA would represent up to half of the market by the close of 2025.

U.S. Medicare coverage of renal denervation (RDN) for uncontrolled hypertension may soon be a fact of life if the manufacturers of these systems have their way. CMS opened a national coverage analysis for RDN, but as is routine practice recently, the agency is asking for comment before posting even a draft coverage memo for this technology.

Timing is everything. Just days after confirming a pause in the U.S. rollout of its Varipulse pulsed field ablation (PFA) catheter, Johnson & Johnson’s electrophysiology program received an epic reprieve from European regulators who granted the company’s dual-energy Thermacool Smarttouch SF catheter CE mark.

Researchers from The George Washington University and Northwestern University filed for protection of a bioresorbable, transparent, microelectrode array (MEA) technology that they believe offers unique advantages.

Johnson & Johnson halted the limited rollout of its Varipulse pulsed field ablation system on Jan. 5 to “investigate the root causes of four reported neurovascular events in the U.S. external evaluation.” So far, just 130 cases have been completed in the U.S. since the company received U.S. FDA approval in November for use in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.