The FDA granted breakthrough device designation to Royal Philips NV for its laser-assisted inferior vena cava (IVC) filter removal device. The Amsterdam-based company designed the device to ablate tissue for removing an IVC filter when previous methods of removal have already failed.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had previously waded into a sea of opposition from device makers and medical societies alike in its proposal to eliminate the inpatient-only (IPO) list. The new administration at CMS has proposed to reverse that move and sustain the IPO, which should alleviate concerns that outpatient procedures will ding the reputations of these devices.

The FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to Endologix LLC for its Chimney Endovascular Aneurysm Sealing (ChEVAS) system. The device, which is intended for use in treating aortic aneurysms, is currently being evaluated in a multicenter pivotal study. The ChEVAS system is an endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) therapy designed to combine the Nellix 3.5 endograft with parallel visceral chimney stents to enable treatment of patients with juxtarenal, pararenal and suprarenal AAA.

On the heels of enrolling the first patient in a pivotal trial of a ventricular restoration system to treat symptomatic heart failure patients in January, Ancora Heart Inc. closed $80 million in new financing on Monday. The startup company plans to use the new funding to speed up this pivotal trial in preparation for FDA approval of its Accucinch ventricular restoration system.

A research team from the National University Health System (NUHS) was awarded a translational grant of S$4.9 million (US$3.6 million) from the National Research Foundation Singapore Central Gap Fund to further develop its personalized mitral valve bioprosthesis. Currently, around 500 patients in Singapore and more than 1 million around the world require mitral valve surgery annually.

In the largest private fundraising round for a U.S. medical device company in the past year, Imperative Care Inc. closed $260 million in a series D financing round on Thursday. The company also acquired its spinoff Truvic Medical Inc., a peripheral thrombectomy developer.

Heartflow Holding Inc. is aiming to bring its noninvasive, artificial intelligence (AI)-based test for coronary heart disease to more doctors and patients via a merger with Longview Acquisition Corp. II. The deal, valued at an enterprise value of about $2.4 billion, is the latest in a steady stream of med techs queueing up to go public via a “blank check” special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) this year.

Approval could come next year for Furoscix from Scpharmaceuticals Inc. (Scpharma), a solution of the standard-of-care heart failure diuretic furosemide formulated to a neutral pH and designed for outpatient use.

A large health system in Minnesota recently became the first in the world to have completed a structural heart procedure, or any other surgical procedure for that matter, using any kind of 4D hologram technology. The technology was developed by venture capital-backed startup Echopixel Inc., and it is intended to improve both surgical precision and outcomes in minimally invasive procedures.