Summary
Percutaneous interventional cardiovascular medicine is an exciting and fast-moving field. In large part this is due to the vast array of technologies that have been developed. This evolution has been, and continues to be, the fruit of the collaboration between basic scientists, engineers, commercial organisations, universities and clinicians. Having an idea or even inventing a prototype technology is only the first stage in a long process that, only in selected cases, will result in a safe, clinically useful, regulatory-approved and marketable product for use in patients. The realisation of an idea through this process is the pure and essential essence of 'innovation'.
In this annexe the latest technologies within this process across the breadth of interventional cardiovascular medicine are presented. The aim is to provide a snapshot of the landscape in 2012. The information will also give a flavour of where innovative activity is greatest and perhaps even a hint at the ‘shape of things to come’. This privileged view of interventional innovation at the cutting edge, courtesy of cvPipeline, can also serve as a useful resource for those currently engaged in the innovation process itself as well as those contemplating it.
The data have been compiled here for quick reference but are also at the end of selected chapters, identifiable by a dedicated icon, in order to place them in their relevant context.
