New Zealand med-tech startup Avasa Ltd. has developed an arterial coupler that could save surgeons 30 minutes in the operating room to better connect arteries.

With its Altix AI.i launch, GE Healthcare Technologies Inc. aims to upgrade the user experience and efficiency of its catheterization lab and electrophysiology procedures. The new capabilities apply to the Cardiolab, Mac-Lab and Combolab products. The Alitx Ai.i software upgrades received U.S. FDA clearance in December. CE mark is pending.

An Australian man in his 40s with severe heart failure was implanted with a Bivacor Inc. total artificial heart (TAH) and has been discharged from the hospital. He remained at home with the artificial heart for 100 days until he received a transplant earlier this week.

Medtronic plc reported results from a registry highlighting the effectiveness of the Prevail paclitaxel-coated balloon. The findings from the Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry (SCAAR) were presented by Sacharias von Koch of the department of cardiology and clinical sciences at Lund University, Skåne University Hospital in Sweden at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies 2025 meeting in Washington.

Medtronic plc released positive results from a two-year trial of Evolut TAVR that demonstrated superior valve performance in patients with small aortic annuli.

With more than three weeks left in the first quarter, the value of med-tech IPOs for 2025 already exceeds the funds raised from all IPOs for med-tech companies in the last two years combined. Kestra Medical Technologies Ltd. provides a clear example of how fast the market is heating up, with a final IPO that raked in more than twice as much as initially expected, while Advanced Biomed Inc. shows the appeal of the U.S. exchanges for non-U.S. companies.

4C Medical Technologies Inc. raised $175 million in a series D financing round led by Boston Scientific Corp. The financing will support the regulatory trials and commercialization of the Altavalve system, a transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) technology.

Ajax Health LLC, with backing from the $4 billion KKR Health Care Strategic Growth Fund II, and Boston Scientific Corp. launched a new business, Flowmod, to advance a system for treating heart failure developed by Boston Sci.

Sofinnova Partners raised a whopping €1.2 billion (US$1.26 billion) over the past year to invest in life sciences companies ranging from incubation to later-stage growth, and spanning biotech, med tech, industrial biotech and digital medicine.

Royal Phillips NV opted to withdraw the Tack endovascular repair device only six years after the U.S. FDA’s approved it. Tack is designed to repair vascular dissection caused by angioplasty. The associated recall lists 20 injuries and no fatalities, but the device design might be a culprit in forcing the withdrawal of the Tack.