St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) announced the first use of its PressureWire Aeris technology, an interventional tool that measures the severity of blood flow blockages in the arteries using the Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) methodology. This helps interventional cardiologists to determine the ideal treatment option for their patients during coronary interventions.
The PressureWire Aeris is a wireless FFR system that requires no additional equipment or cabling in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. FFR is an index that specifically identifies the coronary responsible for obstructing the blood flow to a patients’ heart muscle.
The PressureWire Aeris system displays, measures and saves FFR data in real time, thereby making it the only available system in the market that documents the severity of coronary lesions. The system is easier to use and reduces material costs while improving patient outcomes.
Findings in the landmark FAMA (Fractional flow reserve vs. Angiography in Multivessel Evaluation) trial indicate that St. Jude’s PressureWire technology reduces instances of major adverse cardiovascular events, like death, myocardial infarction and repeat revascularization by 28%. Furthermore, the usage of PressureWire technology saves material cost by 11%.
The use of the new technology will boost St. Jude’s top-line. The company is a leading medical device manufacturer that designs, manufactures and distributes medical devices to treat cardiovascular and neurological conditions.
St. Jude Medical holds the #2 market position for ICDs and pacemakers behind Medtronic Inc. (MDT) but ahead of Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX). This segment is the company’s largest in terms of revenues. St. Jude also holds the #2 market position behind Medtronic in neuromodulation.
Based on the company’s second quarter of 2009 results, we have assigned a Neutral rating to the stock.
Read the full analyst report on “STJ”
Read the full analyst report on “MDT”
Read the full analyst report on “BSX”
Zacks Investment Research
