Biotronik A leader in the field of cardiovascular devices

Biotronik A leader in the field of cardiovascular devices

BIOTRONIK was founded in the 1963 by Professor Max Schaldach as a spin-off of the University of Berlin and is today a leader in the field of Interventional Cardiology, Cardiac Rhythm Management and Electrophysiology.

Interventional Cardiology: Stents

A stent is a small tube slipped into an artery to restore the flow of blood. Traditionally, such devices remain in the body permanently. BIOTRONIK develops different types of permanent stents: Bare metal stents (BMS) and drug eluting stents (DES). BIOTRONIK also did the research for Resorbable Magnesium Scaffolds and serves the same purpose of a permanent stent. Magnesium-based scaffolds around the world are mostly performed under guidance of clinical studies. One of these studies is the BIOSOLVE IV.

The BIOSOLVE IV study is a prospective multicenter registry of more than 2.054 patients who evaluates the safety and the performance of the Resorbable Magnesium Scafforld Magmaris. The results were presented during TCT congress in San Diego in September 2019: - BIOSOLVE –IV confirms low Target Lesion Failure rates (4.3% at 12-months) from previous trails also in a real world setting with 123 centers in 25 countries. - Very good safety profile was presented up to 12- months: 0.2% cardiac death, 0.5 % scaffold thrombosis.

Cardiac Rhythm Management: Pacemakers and Defibrillators

BIOTRONIK is also interested in the electrical component of cardiology: Rhythmology and Electrophysiology. Bradyarrhythmias are heart rhythm abnormalities that cause a too slow heartbeat. BIOTRONIK develops Pacemakers that stimulate the heart with electrical impulses to maintain or restore a normal rhythm. Tachycardia occurs when the heart beats too fast and it could be the basis for sudden death. If this lasts a few minutes and no cardiac massage is performed, it can lead to death. Implantable defibrillators treat this kind of Tachycardia’s.

Remote Monitoring research

BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring ® is an award-winning remote cardiac monitoring system. Designed to minimize patient effort, it sends daily, automatic cardiac device data to the patient device that forwards the information to the Home Monitoring Service Center (HMSC).

Research studies demonstrate that Home Monitoring significantly improves clinical outcomes and survival compared to periodic, in-person device follow-up.

Belgian investigators were the drivers for conducting a European Health Economic trial with the Home Monitoring system (EuroEco): the European Health Economic Trial on Home Monitoring in ICD Therapy. EuroEco showed a significant reduction in the total number of FU visits for patients with Home Monitoring resulting even in a small potential cost benefit from a healthcare provider perspective. In-hospital FU visits in the Home Monitoring group were shown to be more efficient. However, despite the proven clinical benefit in Belgium, there is still a lack of reimbursement for Remote Monitoring.

Research, the pillar of the company

BIOWOMEN research study: The female population is underrepresented in clinical trials in cardiovascular medicine. Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) is an established pacing therapy for patients with heart failure and an asynchronous contraction of the heart chambers. BIOTRONIK is performing a clinical study (BIOWOMEN) to better understand the impact of gender and other baseline risk factors in their response to CRT.

BIO-GUARD-MI research study: The BIO-GUARD-MI study is designed to investigate and clarify whether the incidence of major adverse cardiac events can be decreased by the early detection and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias using an Implanted Cardiac Monitor (ICM) in patients after myocardial infarction. In addition, the study will allow us to describe the interplay between baseline characteristics, arrhythmias, and clinical events to improve the treatment of these high-risk patients. Remote monitoring may improve clinical outcome if it uncovers conditions with low symptom burden which cause or indicate an increased risk.

Our aim is that research is an important pillar for the company and sustains significantly continuous innovation progress in order to preserve quality products in the health care domain.

Biotronik Medialaan 36 - B-1800 Vilvoorde Tel.: +32 (0)2 771 04 35 E-mail: info@biotronik.be - http://www.biotronik.com