Latest news with #CorWave
Sydney Morning Herald
10-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Michael thought he was just getting old. A world-first device changed his life
An Australian man has become the first in the world to be implanted with a next-generation device that mimics the heart's pulse, in what doctors have described as a quantum leap for technology that has saved thousands of lives from heart failure. The globally renowned cardiac surgical team at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital were chosen by French firm CorWave to perform the first in-human implant of their new left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which uses a wave-generating membrane – rather than a rotating pump – to push blood around the body. The team, led by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Paul Jansz, successfully performed the surgery in May on Michael Smith, a grandfather and former meatworker from Leeton in the NSW Riverina. On Tuesday, Smith left hospital for the first time in three months, saying he felt better than he had in more than a decade. 'You've got to have one inside you to realise how good they are,' he said. 'I feel like I'm 21 again.' The 67-year-old was working at a meat processing plant south of Leeton until three months ago, when his doctor sent him to a cardiologist in nearby Griffith. 'I started feeling like I had no energy, but I just put it down to old age. It wasn't – it was heart failure,' he said. 'He [the cardiologist] put me in hospital straight away … he knew how bad it was.' Smith was soon airlifted to St Vincent's, where he remained until the procedure on May 20.
Sydney Morning Herald
09-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
CorWave device: Australian man receives heart implant at St Vincent's Hospital in world first
Jansz said the two-hour surgery was similar to that required for implant devices currently on the market, but its unique design had the potential to deliver enormous benefits for patients. Loading 'This represents a quantum leap in terms of technology,' he said. 'Very sick patients need a lot of blood flowing around their body … this new [implant] has the ability to pump, not only in a pulsatile manner, but in a greater volume.' The device, which effectively bypasses the failing pump action of the left ventricle, is implanted to act as a bridge to transplantation: keeping the patient alive and well until a donor heart becomes available. Smith is currently living in an apartment close to the hospital. He will return to Leeton in a few weeks, where he is looking forward to catching up with his sons and grandchildren – and getting back on the golf course. 'This transition period with the CorWave allows Michael to get better,' Jansz said. 'His kidneys are working normally, his brain and his heart's working well, he's nourished and he's essentially normal. That's a much better situation to go into a transplant with.' Smith was the first of about 20 patients expected to receive the implant as part of a three-year clinical trial testing the device's efficacy. One other patient has since received the implant at St Vincent's. Mimicking the behaviour of a normally functioning heart, the CorWave's oscillating membrane is driven by a single moving part that automatically adjusts blood flow based on what the patient needs – speeding up when the patient is moving and slowing down at times of rest. This represents a major shift from traditional LVADs, which use a rotating impeller to pump a continuous and fixed flow of blood, without generating a pulse. 'The benefit is that it will be able to respond to exercise more efficiently, and it can be put in sync with the heartbeat … the hope is that will translate to better outcomes for patients,' said Professor Chris Hayward, the senior cardiologist at St Vincent's who led Smith's recovery. Around 144,000 people in Australia live with heart failure, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates. It was the underlying cause of more than 5000 deaths and contributes to more than 170,000 hospitalisations each year. St Vincent's implants about 60 LVADs a year, Hayward said. The procedure is the latest milestone for the globally renowned team at St Vincent's, who in November implanted the world's first totally artificial heart. The research trial has not received Australian government funding, but the device has attracted significant backing from governments and private investors in Europe. Inspired by the movement of marine animals, the undulating membrane technology was conceived by former triple jumper Jean-Baptiste Drevet, who died in 2022. CorWave chief executive Louis de Lillers said the device was the result of more than a decade of research and development by Paris-based engineers and doctors. 'We owe this moment to the trust of the patient, the excellence of the team at St Vincent's, and the perseverance of our team,' he said. Start the day with a summary of the day's most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
The Age
09-07-2025
- Health
- The Age
Michael thought he was just getting old. A world-first device changed his life
An Australian man has become the first in the world to be implanted with a next-generation device that mimics the heart's pulse, in what doctors have described as a quantum leap for technology that has saved thousands of lives from heart failure. The globally renowned cardiac surgical team at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital were chosen by French firm CorWave to perform the first in-human implant of their new left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which uses a wave-generating membrane – rather than a rotating pump – to push blood around the body. The team, led by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Paul Jansz, successfully performed the surgery in May on Michael Smith, a grandfather and former meatworker from Leeton in the NSW Riverina. On Tuesday, Smith left hospital for the first time in three months, saying he felt better than he had in more than a decade. 'You've got to have one inside you to realise how good they are,' he said. 'I feel like I'm 21 again.' The 67-year-old was working at a meat processing plant south of Leeton until three months ago, when his doctor sent him to a cardiologist in nearby Griffith. 'I started feeling like I had no energy, but I just put it down to old age. It wasn't – it was heart failure,' he said. 'He [the cardiologist] put me in hospital straight away … he knew how bad it was.' Smith was soon airlifted from the local hospital to St Vincent's, where he remained until the procedure on May 20.
Business Wire
09-07-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
World First: CorWave's Undulating Membrane Heart Pump Implanted in First Patient
CLICHY, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CorWave, a medical device company, announces the world's first implantation in a patient of its Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS), the first heart pump based on breakthrough wave membrane technology. The procedure was performed by the team at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Australia. This implantation represents a major technological milestone in the field of durable mechanical circulatory support, 27 years after the first use of a durable rotary pump – a technology that has since become the standard of care. Inspired by the swimming motion of aquatic animals, CorWave's undulating membrane technology, developed since 2012, aims to preserve the physiological balance of the cardiovascular system, unlike currently used rotary pumps that deliver a continuous and fixed flow rate. The device has been designed to preserve the effects of the heartbeats on the vasculature and work in synchrony with the heart to preserve its function and structures. It can also automatically adjust blood flow according to the patient's activity, whether at rest or in motion. CorWave's state-of-the-art innovation has three clinical objectives. First, to limit serious complications associated with current devices, such as strokes, bleeding, heart failure, or valvular diseases. Second, it aims to improve patients' quality of life with a broader resumption of daily, professional, and social activities. Finally, it should promote heart recovery, which is possible in certain patients. This first patient successfully met the primary endpoint of 30-day survival without device-related complications. Suffering from advanced heart failure, he is doing well and has been discharged from the hospital. He himself reports feeling much better than before his surgery and experiencing no particular discomfort. He no longer experiences undue fatigue or shortness of breath, which are typical symptoms of advanced heart failure. The teams at CorWave and St Vincent's Hospital, a world center of excellence specialized in research on the physiological impact of heart pumps, have observed the proper functioning of the device and the patient's post-operative recovery. Additional implantations will be necessary to more comprehensively evaluate the safety, performance, and clinical benefits of this technology as part of the ongoing clinical study. CorWave is continuing this study in accordance with regulatory requirements and good clinical practices, in close collaboration with the participating medical teams. Louis de Lillers, CEO of CorWave, says: "This world first is a success and results from more than a decade of determined research and engineering. We owe this moment to the trust of the patient, the excellence of the team at St Vincent's, the perseverance of our team, investors and partners who have backed CorWave's vision over the years. We look forward to writing a new chapter in circulatory support alongside the scientific and medical community, with the shared goal of significantly improving the lives of advanced heart failure patients.' Professor Christopher Hayward, cardiologist specializing in heart failure and heart transplantation at St Vincent's Hospital and principal investigator of the study remarked, "The entire medical team is impressed by the CorWave device's performance. We're very happy with the patient's post-operative recovery. The results we're seeing are very encouraging for the future." Dr Paul Jansz, cardiothoracic surgeon, adds: "The surgical procedure is very similar to the implantation of the current generation of left ventricular assist devices. However, unlike the latter, this new generation system allows for the preservation of the natural pulse, which is potentially a game-changer. We could be opening up a new era of circulatory support.' Heart failure affects more than 64 million people worldwide, and several hundred thousand patients could eventually be candidates for durable circulatory support. By offering an alternative based on breakthrough technology, CorWave confirms its ambition to become a reference player in the field of implantable cardiac assist devices. About CorWave CorWave is a French company that develops and manufactures innovative cardiac assist devices. CorWave's undulating membrane is a breakthrough technology that distinguishes itself from currently marketed Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) through its physiological operation, designed to reproduce pulse and blood flow velocities similar to those of a healthy heart. Ultimately, CorWave's membrane pump technology should reduce complications associated with current devices and improve the management of patients suffering from heart failure. A member of French Tech 120, CorWave was founded in 2012 by the start-up studio MD Start and is funded by renowned investors, including Bpifrance, EIC Fund, Montpensier Arbevel, M&L Healthcare, Novo Holdings, Seventure Partners, Sofinnova Partners, Ysios Capital, and Vlerick Group. The company has raised over 80 million euros in equity funding and employs about a hundred people. In October 2023, after more than ten years of research and development, CorWave scaled up to industrial operations with the inauguration of its state-of-the-art urban factory in Clichy. This project received funding from the European Union's research and innovation Horizon 2020 program under grant agreement #954151. T he SPI fund's investment in CorWave is part of the France 2030 Initiative. C orWave's R&D program is supported by the French government through the Investments for the Future Program (PIA). CorWave's industrialization program is supported by Île-de-France region through the « Relance Industrie » call for projects.
Business Wire
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
CorWave Announces Successful Completion of 6-Month Chronic In Vivo Study, Paving the Way for Clinical Trial Initiation
CLICHY, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CorWave, a medical device company dedicated to the fight against heart failure, announces new preclinical results of its implantable heart pump. CorWave's in vivo studies demonstrated the pump's successful operation for six months. Additionally, nine chronic ovine implants were conducted for 60 days, without chronic anticoagulant therapy. There was no device failure during the studies and no sign of thrombosis at explant. The CorWave device operated in pulsatile mode, synchronizing with the native heart rate. These studies underpin the device's thromboresistance, stable algorithm, and hemocompatibility. These significant milestones mark the final stage of CorWave's preclinical development, paving the way for its First-In-Human study. CorWave is developing an implantable LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) driven by its proprietary breakthrough wave membrane pump technology. This unique pumping mechanism, combined with a smart algorithm, enables the CorWave pump to adapt its flow to patients' activity levels and preserve physiological balance, aiming to reduce adverse events and improve quality of life. 'This technology has the potential to shape the future of long term mechanical circulatory support. It can overcome current limitations of rotary blood pumps and create real smart and adaptive circulatory support: the results of the preclinical studies were excellent. Beyond the objectives of the study, additional animals were successfully followed up for six months with convincing pump performance. I am excited to see this new device taking the next steps into clinical practice.' commented Dr. Martin Strueber, cardiac surgeon who supported the company in the preclinical development. 'CorWave's novel self-adaptive, smart LVAD has demonstrated excellent preclinical results, with no device-related failures and complications. Surgical implantations were uneventful and intuitive. The newly introduced control algorithm allowed synchronous support, either in co-pulsation or counter-pulsation mode, and operated reliably throughout the study. Safety and feasibility have been successfully demonstrated, paving the way for clinical trials,' added Dr. Sebastian Schulte Eistrup, cardiac surgeon who was also involved in the in vivo studies. 'These results not only meet the highest standards in the LVAD industry but also indicate potential clinical advantages over rotary blood pumps that have been in use since the late 1990s. Following these significant milestones, the team is now actively preparing for the clinical introduction of the device,' concluded Louis de Lillers, CEO. About CorWave: CorWave is a French company that develops and manufactures innovative cardiac assist devices. The CorWave undulating membrane is a breakthrough technology that differs from today's commercially available left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) by its physiological operation, designed to mimic a pulse and blood flow rates similar to those of a healthy heart. Ultimately, CorWave's membrane pump technology is expected to reduce the complications associated with current devices and improve the management of heart failure patients. A member of the French Tech 120, CorWave was founded in 2012 by the start-up studio MD Start and is funded by renowned investors including Bpifrance, EIC Fund, Financière Arbevel, M&L Healthcare, Novo Holdings, Seventure Partners, Sofinnova Partners, Ysios Capital and Vlerick Group. The company has secured over €80 million in equity capital and employs over eighty people. In October 2023, after more than ten years of research and development, CorWave scaled up to an industrial level with the inauguration of its urban factory in Clichy. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the facility is designed to produce up to 1,000 pumps per year, representing a potential revenue of approximately €100 million.
