Boston Scientific has initiated a worldwide study to evaluate the rate and causes of shocks for patients implanted with the Emblem subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (S-ICD). The device is indicated for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death in the setting of severely reduced cardiac function (left ventricular ejection fraction </= 35 percent).

Angiography alone for procedural image guidance in the catheterization lab is sometimes not enough, and it is helpful to augment X-ray lumen imaging with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) or optical coherence tomography (OCT) to visualize the soft tissue morphology.

In recent years, there has been widespread media coverage of studies purporting to show that radiation from X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans and other medical imaging causes cancer. But such studies have serious flaws, including their reliance on an unproven statistical model, according to a recent article in the journal Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment. Corresponding author is Loyola University Medical Center radiation oncologist James Welsh, M.D., MS.

Medtronic has acquired CardioInsight Technologies Inc., a Cleveland-based medical device company that has developed a new approach to improve the mapping of electrical disorders of the heart. CardioInsight will become part of the Medtronic atrial fibrillation solutions business in the cardiac rhythm and heart failure division.

CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CardiAQ) announced that its second-generation transcatheter bioprosthetic mitral heart valve was successfully implanted as a compassionate treatment. The device was placed into a 72-year-old male suffering from severe mitral regurgitation (MR 4+) with multiple co-morbidities and ineligible for alternate treatment modalities.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC), Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) released a new overview on the implantation of left atrial appendage occlusion devices.