MIAMI BEACH — Medical technology companies love being the first up to bat with a new technology, as Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) was with its Sapien valve in the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) space. But some would argue that it's better to be the first company to bring a second-generation device to the playing field.

MIAMI BEACH — A next-generation, micronet, mesh-covered stent demonstrated improved restoration of blood flow to the heart tissue compared to both bare-metal and drug-eluting stents in heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty, according to the MASTER trial presented for the first time this week at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting.