Medtronic's Micra Pacemaker Spells Success in Prelim Study
Medtronic, Inc. (MDT) posted preliminary results from the first human implant of the world's smallest pacemaker – the Micra Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS). At 1 month and 3 months, results showed the successful implantation of Micra TPS in 4 patients, whose ages ranged from 74 to 83 years.
There were no major post-implant complications and the pacemaker performed in line with expectations, with the electrical values lying within normal ranges. The results were presented at Cardiostim/Ehra Eurospace 2014, World Congress in Electrophysiology and Cardiac Techniques, in Nice, France.
What is Micra TPS?
The Micra TPS is a wireless miniature pacing device that does not need any surgical incision or the creation of a 'pocket' under the skin. This eliminates the possibility of device related problems observed in case of traditional surgical pacemaker implants.
Moreover, being one tenth the size of a conventional pacemaker, it can be directly introduced into a patient's heart through a minimally invasive procedure.
The Micra TPS was first implanted in a patient in Linz, Austria in Dec 2013 as part of the Medtronic global pivotal clinical trial. The first successful U.S. trial implant of this device was conducted in a patient in Feb 2014 at NYU Langone Medical Centre, NYC.
At present, the Micra TPS is under investigation and has not yet been approved in the U.S. The device's safety and efficacy is currently under evaluation in the Medtronic Micra Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) Global Clinical Trial.
The TPS Trial is a single-arm, multi-center study that will enroll up to 780 patients at approximately 50 centers. Initial results from the first 60 patients, followed up to 3 months, are expected in the second half of 2014.
Going forward, management expects similar positive outcome for all the patients covered under the trial.
Zacks Rank
Medtronic currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked medical product stocks that warrant a look are Cardica Inc. (CRDC), ICU Medical, Inc. (ICUI) and NeuroMetrix Inc. (NURO). All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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