The FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to Sonivie Ltd.'s Therapeutic Intra-Vascular Ultrasound (TIVUS) system for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Early clinical studies suggest that the catheter-based system could stabilize or reduce pressure in the pulmonary vasculature of PAH patients, a population with an average survival rate of five years.

WASHINGTON – The 2019 annual forum hosted by the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) takes place as the National Evaluation System for health Technology (NEST) approaches full operability. Acquiring the data needed to employ NEST as a source of real-world evidence (RWE) is still an issue. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and health care researcher at Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital, said that disruption of the business models of the "data oligopolies" is critical for use of RWE for devices in both the pre- and postmarket settings.

Telehealth and telemedicine have been slow to catch on for a number of reasons, but the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a pilot program to increase the use of telemedicine for low-income Americans and military veterans. While access to broadband services is still an issue for many, the so-called Connected Care Pilot drew support from a range of stakeholders, who argued that telehealth is critical to managing public health crises, such as diabetes and the opioid epidemic.