Manufacturers are finding it harder to innovate in the vascular interventional devices as market and regulatory pressures take their toll. New coronary drug-eluting stents face a difficult challenge with the high bar now set by existing devices, and there have been several recent disappointments in renal denervation, drug-coated balloons, and renal artery stenting; still there are some promising areas, with bioresorbable stents offering perhaps the best prospect among vascular therapies for future blockbuster status.

Manufacturers are finding it harder to innovate in the vascular interventional device arena as market and regulatory pressures take their toll. New coronary drug-eluting stents face a difficult challenge with the high bar now set by existing devices, and there have been several recent disappointments in the areas of renal denervation, drug-coated balloons, and renal artery stenting; still there are areas of opportunity that continue to look promising, with bioresorbable stents offering perhaps the best prospect among vascular therapies for future blockbuster status.

A new, mobile monitoring technology has entered the cardiovascular market, and companies that already own a piece of the landscape are paying close attention to its debut. Start-up AliveCor Inc. has launched a heart rhythm monitor that works with smartphones – one of the first of a new breed of mobile medical devices that could have a disruptive impact on health care as it is performed today.