[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6664\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EMiniature implant hopes to bypass heart failure\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology behind the miniaturised monitor comes from a Tel Aviv-based medical technology company called Vectorious Medical Technologies and could have implications far beyond its goal of helping heart failure patients better manage their health.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHeart failure, one of the most common forms of cardiovascular disease, is a chronic condition which sees the heart unable to pump enough blood to meet the body\u2019s needs. Cardiovascular disease overall is estimated to cost the EU economy \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/statistics-explained\/index.php\/Cardiovascular_diseases_statistics\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEUR 169 billion\u003C\/a\u003E a year, but these costs could be greatly reduced if there were better ways to monitor patients with heart failure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd the best way to do this is to measure the pressure in the left side of their heart, says Vectorious CEO Oren Goldshtein.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil now, that has meant keeping the patient in hospital but that could all change thanks to a miniaturised hemodynamic monitor the company is developing as part of an EU-funded project called V-LAP.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We provide the holy grail for cardiologists, which is measuring pressure in the heart \u2013 but it requires a lot of technology and miniaturisation to put a device inside the heart with low-risk,\u2019 said Goldshtein.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology, which can predict when someone with heart failure is about to take a turn for the worse and allows them to adjust their medication, has already been tested in large animals. The company has just received approval for their EU clinical study by DEKRA, a healthcare certification organisation. The study will include 20 patients that will be fitted with the device and followed up on a daily basis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf development of the device is successful, it could change everything, both for heart failure patients and for the health services struggling to meet their needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u0026#039;We provide the holy grail for cardiologists, which is measuring pressure in the heart.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EOren Goldshtein, Vectorious Medical Technologies\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The vision is physician-directed patient self-management \u2013 patients would have some ability to adjust their medications according to a very strict algorithm managed by a\u0026nbsp;physician who can look at their results,\u2019 said Goldshtein.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The cost of hospitalisation is one of the biggest challenges for health services,\u2019 he added, citing that heart failure-related hospitalisation in the US costs close to USD 40 billion a year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Our goal is to improve the quality of life, reduce morbidity, save lives but equally importantly to reduce healthcare spending.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd further ahead, miniaturisation could mean that one day even healthy patients are routinely fitted with other monitors \u2013 not just for their hearts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In a few years we\u2019ll all have sensors in our body \u2013 for heart disease, diabetes, even for monitoring regular healthy patients,\u2019 said Goldshtein.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@aligncenter@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022A new heart implant will tackle cardiovascular disease which kills 2 million people in the EU yearly. Image credit - Vectorious Medical Technologies\u0022 height=\u0022467\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/vec-rad_website-pic.png\u0022 title=\u0022A new heart implant will tackle cardiovascular disease which kills 2 million people in the EU yearly. Image credit - Vectorious Medical Technologies\u0022 width=\u00221400\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EA new heart implant will tackle cardiovascular disease which kills 2 million people in the EU yearly. Image credit - Vectorious Medical Technologies\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo fight a disease with such a wide-ranging impact as heart failure, cross-border cooperation is vital, and that\u2019s where the European Research Area Network (ERA-Net) on cardiovascular diseases (ERA-CVD) comes in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHeart culture\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe group coordinates national and regional funding for research programmes with the aim of fostering a community of scientists dedicated to finding answers to the biggest questions in CVD research, says project coordinator Dr Wolfgang Ballensiefen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s a very important area of disease with a very high impact on people and societies,\u2019 said Dr Ballensiefen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Bringing partners together from different countries, including those that do not have a strong culture of research into heart disease, benefits European society as a whole. Once you have a core of researchers, they can then apply for further funding from the European Commission.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBringing together researchers from across the region has the practical advantage of making sure research takes account of different healthcare systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EERA-CVD is running from 2015-2020 and will coordinate national and EU funding for several projects tackling heart failure. While Dr Ballensiefen says it is still too early to draw conclusions from these projects, he is confident that pooling funding and promoting cooperation will only help in the fight for healthier hearts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We expect that in the next years these 14 projects will have an impact on better understanding \u2013 and especially better treatment \u2013 of heart failure,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg class src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 alt width=\u0022983\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EU\u0027s European Research Council (ERC) funded LONGHEART project is taking a molecular approach investigating the role of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA), a molecule essential to several biological functions. The role of IncRNA is basically unknown in heart failure, but their study hopes to use these molecules for better diagnosis and treatment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project, which runs until 2020, is progressing well, says lead researcher Professor Thomas Thum of the Hannover Medical School, Germany.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I hope that by the end of the project we will have identified at least two or three promising targets,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith further research followed by collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry, those discoveries could lead to new medications, although that point could be as far as 10 years away.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Thum believes there is a gathering momentum in this field of research as individuals and societies wise up to the costs of heart disease and the lifestyle factors that contribute to it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There has been a lack of novel targets and novel treatment options for the last two decades. Now there is really a momentum \u2013 the public realises that CVD is killer number one and we need to put more focus on it,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-hxqdfxbuiloieizzosspdtvpcibpyj-l7ty30g7kcqw\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-HXQdFXBUiloIEizZOSsPDtvpcIBPYJ-L7ty30G7kCQw\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]