After Atherectomy: Shockwave Medical Preps For Success

An increasing proportion of patients are presenting to cath labs with calcified plaque, and emerging cardiovascular interventions are driving the demand for calcium debulking technologies that are more benign than conventional atherectomy or balloon angioplasty. Shockwave Medical’s novel platform for debulking calcified plaque in vessels is based on lithotripsy, the use of mechanical energy to fracture kidney stones; the start-up believes it has a technology that’s specific for calcium and benign to healthy tissue.