Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences is an American medical equipment company specializing in artificial heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. The Company is mostly known for a transcatheter aortic heart valve made of bovine tissue within a collapsible stainless-steel stent, deployed via catheter. The Edwards SAPIEN family of heart valves are delivered via a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The valve is designed to replace a patient’s diseased native aortic valve without traditional open-heart surgery and while the heart continues to beat – avoiding the need to stop the patient’s heart and connect them to a heart-lung machine that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and the patient’s breathing during surgery.

The Company also manufactures products for vascular therapy along with hemodynamic monitoring devices for measuring cardiovascular performance during surgery and in the ICU. Hemodynamic monitoring is the measurement of blood circulation and cardiac function that allows clinicians to evaluate whether enough oxygen is being delivered to the organs and tissues. Among these is the Swan-Ganz catheter. Originally developed for patients with acute myocardial infarction, it is now used in anesthesia and critical care units. Healthcare providers use this monitoring to detect changes or problems in a patient’s health, which allows for more informed, immediate treatment decisions. To facilitate on-pump cardiac surgery procedures through smaller incisions, Edwards also offers a cardiac surgery product line comprising soft tissue retractors, venous and arterial cannulae, aortic occlusion, venting, and coronary sinus catheters, as well as reusable instruments for performing minimally invasive valvular procedures.