Dive Brief:
- Boston Scientific and Siemens Healthineers have partnered to develop and commercialize Siemens Healthineers’ next-generation intracardiac echocardiography catheter, the companies said Thursday.
- The new cardiac imaging catheter is intended for use in structural heart procedures, including standalone Watchman left atrial appendage closure, Farapulse pulsed field ablation, and the Farawatch approach combining PFA with the Watchman implant.
- Boston Scientific expects the agreement to encourage adoption of its Watchman device by more sites, furthering growth of an already successful business. Boston Scientific will become the exclusive distributor of the Acunav 4D ICE catheter in the U.S. and Japan, once the device is commercially available.
Dive Insight:
Watchman is a top revenue driver for Boston Scientific’s cardiology business, generating 35% growth year over year to $512 million in the third quarter. Watchman implants performed together with PFA, called concomitant procedures, are accelerating sales of the devices in the U.S.
The Watchman device, used to lower a patient’s risk for stroke, is fitted into the heart’s left atrial appendage to close it and prevent blood clots caused by atrial fibrillation from escaping.
Most Watchman cases are performed using transesophageal echo to provide a view of the heart, according to Boston Scientific. However, the company said 4D ICE is increasingly being used in both standalone and concomitant procedures.
The technology uses a catheter with an ultrasound probe to create a live video feed with moving images of the heart's motion and blood flow in real time. The catheter is designed to enable guidance from the right atrium. The design is intended to improve imaging quality and enable device guidance without the need to cross the imaging catheter into the left atrium, avoiding potential complications in that area of the heart.
The partnership between Siemens Healthineers and Boston Scientific is one of a growing number of tech development collaborations announced by medical device companies. In September, Siemens Healthineers said it was teaming with Stryker on a robotic system to perform neurovascular procedures. Medtronic and Siemens Healthineers are also partnering on imaging technologies for spine surgery.
