Orchestra BioMed’s cardiac neuromodulation therapy device, BackBeat, is turning heads with impressive results from a recently conducted study. The extended crossover study, which followed a Moderato II evaluation last year that saw the device significantly reduce hypertension in its original randomized participant group, had its results made public at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Boston.
The implant integrates with existing pacemakers or alternate cardiac rhythm facilitator devices to reduce persistently high blood pressure through bioelectric therapy. Able to be adjusted as needed for each patient, BackBeat emits patterns that modulate the autonomic nervous system. “The ability to reduce systolic pressure and pulse pressure while simultaneously controlling impact on diastolic pressure may provide a unique therapeutic option for a broad range of patients, including the majority of this population, which suffers from isolated systolic hypertension,” said the man who presented the new finding at the TCT conference, Daniel Burkhoff, MD, PhD, a director at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.
The add-on study saw 14 control patients—nine having isolated systolic hypertension—engage in active BackBeat therapy, and they experienced after half a year an average reduction of 10.3 mmHg in ambulatory systolic blood pressure. The original study group, in which just north of 80% of participants experienced isolated systolic hypertension, experienced an 8.1 mmHg drop.
