24 November 2015 - - German medical device maker Xenios' i-cor Synchronized Cardiac Assist System has received CE marking and can now be sold in Europe as the world's first heartbeat-synchronised cardiac assist for cardiogenic shock and high-risk interventions, the company said.

The i-cor Synchronized Cardiac Assist System, which uses a miniaturized pump to provide physiological beat-to-beat cardiac assist, is designed to combinemyocardial protection with organ perfusion by assisting the weakened heart with synchronized pulses that are superimposed over the patient's weakened heartbeats.

With this ECG-triggered heartbeat i-cor is designed to significantly improve coronary blood flow and limit afterload compared with conventional methods.

Synchronized Cardiac Assist "overlays" or "superimposes" a physiological pulse wave onto the patient's weakened pulse and is designed to be a less invasive treatment than the current standard while using a more physiological treatment essential to endothelial function, which ensures adequate tissue perfusion in the organs.

Maintaining organ function serves to prevent multi-organ failure and to improve clinical outcomes. The oxygenating power of the i-cor Synchronized Cardiac System allows for a reduction of invasiveness compared to standard care by reducing blood flow and thus reducing cannula size.

As a result, i-cor is designed to offer physiological circulatory support, protection, and safety during interventions in the cardiac cath lab, as well as for the management of cardiogenic shock in the ICU and the cardiac cath lab.

Xenios is comprised of two product brands, novalung and i–cor, that run on a single Xenios platform. Xenios novalung offers the full spectrum of extrapulmonary lung support. Xenios i-cor is focused on heart therapies.