Shockwave Medical

Shockwave Medical is developing the Lithoplasty family of balloon dilatation catheters that incorporate tiny lithotripsy electrodes designed to increase the compliance of rigid vascular and valvular lesions prior to low-pressure dilation, thereby limiting injury to healthy tissue and overcoming significant limitations of current revascularization technologies. The technology is built on traditional balloon catheter platforms rendering it inherently familiar and easy to use for cardiologists, interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons alike. In peripheral vessels, Lithoplasty could enable more effective angioplasty, less frequent bailout stent usage and enhanced lesion preparation prior to the use of drug eluting balloons (DEB) or bio-absorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS). In coronary vessels it could facilitate stent delivery and enhance vessel preparation prior to stent or BVS placement. Finally, in aortic valves the technology could vastly improve native tissue preparation prior to trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and valvuloplasty for those patients not suitable for TAVR.