Image Credit: Aria CV
Aria CV, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, was founded in 2010 to develop an implantable device intended to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.
The Aria CV device is an implantable gas-filled balloon that is introduced percutaneously and functions in the main pulmonary artery to alleviate the excessive workload on the right heart that results in right heart failure. The device is designed to restore pulmonary artery health and elasticity, reducing the workload on heart muscles and increasing blood flow by mimicking the function of healthy vessels, which helps the heart pump at a more normal rate and improves blood flow to the lungs.
The device consists of a gas reservoir and a balloon connected by a narrow conduit that allows gas to move between the two. The balloon is held in place by a nitinol anchor. It has no battery, pump, or electronics. Instead, it is driven entirely by the heart’s motion.
In February 2020, Aria CV was granted FDA’s breakthrough designation for the Aria CV Pulmonary Hypertension System (Aria CV PH System).
In February 2024, Aria CV announced that it had implanted the first patient with its Gen 2 Aria CV Pulmonary Hypertension System as part of the ASPIRE PH clinical trial at Ascension St. Vincent Cardiovascular Research Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Image Credit: Aria CV