A green light from the U.S. FDA has significantly brightened Seno Medical Instruments Inc.’s image of its immediate future. The San Antonio-based company developed a novel breast cancer imaging technology that combines noninvasive opto-acoustic (OA) technology with ultrasound (US) to more accurately distinguish benign from malignant breast lesions following ambiguous mammography results.

Advanced Bionics LLC heard good news from the U.S. FDA, which granted approval for the company’s Marvel cochlear implant (CI) platform and the first-ever sound processor designed specifically for children. The development brings the Marvel platform, initially created for hearing aids produced by Advanced Bionics' sister company, Phonak AG, to the sound processor for CIs for the first time.

The rising tide of digital therapeutics approved and funded in the U.S. raised the outlook for Mahana Therapeutics Inc. and Freespira Inc. as both companies announced good news. Mahana's prescription digital therapeutic for gastrointestinal conditions, Parallel, received premarket authorization from the U.S. FDA and Freespira, formerly Palo Alto Health Sciences Inc., raised $10 million for its digital therapeutic for panic attacks, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Cerus Corp. has received the green light from the U.S. FDA for its Intercept blood system for cryoprecipitation. The device, which garnered a breakthrough device designation in 2018, is used to produce Pathogen Reduced Cryoprecipitated Fibrinogen Complex (PR-Cryo) for treating and controlling bleeding, including massive hemorrhage, associated with fibrinogen deficiency.

Premarket approval by the U.S. FDA of a new venous stent system made by Medtronic plc could blast through impediments for patients who suffer from complex deep vein obstruction. Less than 1% of patients with iliofemoral venous outflow obstruction currently receive treatment, despite the risk of serious complications and sharply reduced quality of life. Approval of the Abre stent was based on a 200-patient clinical study.

Biosense Webster Inc. reported U.S. FDA approval of its Thermocool Smarttouch SF ablation catheter for the treatment of patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (persistent AF). This follows results of the prospective, multicenter Precept study, which showed the catheter to be safe and effective for 80% of patients over 15 months of ablation therapy with clinically meaningful improvement in quality of life.

Medtronic plc’s winning streak continued this week with the announcement that the U.S. FDA had given its nod for new one-month of dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) labeling with an expanded indication for high bleeding risk (HBR) patients implanted with the Resolute Onyx drug-eluting stent (DES). The approval is based on results from the Onyx ONE Clear Study that evaluated about 1,500 complex HBR patients on one-month DAPT treated with Resolute Onyx.

The U.S. FDA has given the green light to Roche Group for its Cobas HIV-1/HIV-2 Qualitative test for use on Cobas 6800 and 8800 systems. The test is the first FDA-approved, fully automated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that detects and differentiates between human deficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2, as well including claims for pregnant women and children.

Stryker Corp. has launched its Surpass Evolve flow diverter following an earlier U.S. FDA approval. According to the company, it is the first 64-wire cobalt chromium flow diverter in the U.S. designed to redirect blood flow and promote aneurysm healing. Ajay Wakhloo, the first physician to complete a commercial case in the U.S., noted that the offering builds on Stryker’s Surpass Streamline. “By increasing the braid angle, the novel 64-wire device delivers excellent flow diversion and a highly flexible implant for enhanced vessel wall contact. The higher mesh density of Surpass Evolve vs. traditional 48-wire flow diverters may lead to faster aneurysm occlusion for patients," Wakhloo said.

The U.S. FDA expanded the indications for Stryker Corp.’s Neuroform Atlas stent system to include use in the posterior circulation or back of the brain, making the device the only adjunctive stent approved for aneurysms in this challenging location. The Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company’s intracranial coil-assist stent gained its initial indication for the more common aneurysms in the anterior circulation of the neurovasculature in May 2019.