Penumbra Inc.’s 'resoundingly positive' results from its STORM-PE trial could see current guidelines for anticoagulant use in pulmonary embolism swept away in favor of mechanical thrombectomy. A deluge of favorable comments by experts and analysts followed the presentation during a late-breaking session at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics, the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, which showed more than 50% improvement in treatment effect from Penumbra’s computer-assisted vacuum thrombectomy system plus anticoagulation compared to anticoagulation alone within two days with no increase in major adverse events.

Doctors and device makers are habituated to the notion that more devices equal better outcomes, but one presenter at this year’s Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in San Francisco argued that this is not always the case. James McCabe of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said cardiologists may want to start thinking about whether a cardiology implant should stay implanted, a mindset that is anything but intuitively attractive to the modern practicing physician.

In San Francisco, the first day of Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2025 annual meeting offered presentations on the future of the convergence of devices, drugs and AI. The takeaway from the session seems to be that while the future is bright, it will become the present only when payers can find an economic argument to pay for the advances formed by this convergence.

With the number of beats Boston Science Corp. has posted in recent years, it could be auditioning as a heavy metal drummer. Third quarter results kept up the streak, with overall sales 2% ahead of consensus at $5.07 billion and earnings per share of 75 cents, 5% above the Street’s expectations. The company’s two market-transforming products, Watchman and Farapulse, led the strong across-the-board performance, which would be no surprise by now except when looking at the stunning growth rates and sales both posted in the same quarter last year.

Vertebral compression fractures are one of the more obvious signs of osteoporosis but can be difficult to diagnose, one of several reasons the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has given the nod to five AI products that can improve rapid detection of these fractures.

Total arterial revascularization (TAR) might not be the most popular approach to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), but it is gaining in popularity according to a new study appearing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The authors said that TAR provides superior mortality outcomes compared to bypass grafting that relies on both veins and arteries for graft materials, a finding that might suggest lower rates of downstream angioplasty and stenting.

Pulse Biosciences Inc. presented late-breaking results from its successful first-in-human study of its nanosecond pulsed field ablation technology in treating atrial fibrillation at the 39th European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Hayward, Calif.-based company’s Npulse cardiac surgical system takes PFA technology into the cardiac surgery setting.

Pomdoctor Ltd. raised $20 million through a Nasdaq IPO on Oct. 8, with the funds geared to expand its mobile health platform for chronic diseases in China.

Boston Scientific Corp. continues to prove out its strategy of active acquisitions combined with industry-leading organic growth with the closing of its $88 million acquisition of Elutia Inc.’s Bioenvelope business and very positive targets for growth presented during its investor day on Sept. 30.

Ernst & Young LLP didn't quite declare the patient cured but saw signs of a strong med-tech recovery after a few years on life support in its annual Pulse of the MedTech Industry report. The global accounting giant particularly called out strength in the cardiovascular, diabetes, robotics and orthopedics segments.