|
Top TCT 2025 Trends, Research, and More
October 30, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
Together with
|
|
|
|
“Just your friendly reminder: An elevated CT Calcium Score is NOT a Risk Factor for heart disease. It IS Heart Disease.”
|
|
Dr. Paddy Barrett
|
|
|
ICYMI: If you missed Cardiac Wire’s latest webinar with Dr. Tony Das and Dr. Alberto Morales, you can now watch the full session on demand! Hosted by Cardiac Wire in partnership with Arineta, we explored how in-office CCTA is transforming the detection and management of coronary artery disease. You can watch it on-demand here.
|
|
|
|
This year marked the 37th Annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference, and while the core of the conference is still catheter-based heart therapies, this year’s research studies and device demonstrations made it clearer than ever that cardiac medtech continues to push the boundaries of what can be done with a catheter.
Structural Heart is King – The biggest research and booth presence at this year’s TCT came from valve replacement technologies, underscoring just how much the field of transcatheter valve replacements has grown, with TAVR now being just one of many valve replacement procedures available through the minimally invasive method.
Coronary Therapies are a Close Second – Though a lot of the excitement is around valve replacements, innovations in percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary revascularization, and intravascular lithotripsy all featured heavily, showing just how central coronary artery disease is to interventional cardiology.
Imaging Solutions For Less Catheterization – With the increases in catheter-based heart procedures, many companies are now developing “wire-free” ways to help cardiologists plan interventions, reducing the paradox of needing a catheter to figure out if you need a catheter.
Improving the Cath Lab – In the same vein, once care teams are in the cath lab, companies like Egg Medical and Rampart both showed several ways to improve physical safety by blocking radiation exposure through adjustable patient tables and ultra-lightweight lead vests.
AI at TCT Focused on Planning over Diagnosis – Early on in 2025, cardiology conferences like ACC and HRS were full of news and studies about cardiology AI technology changing the way we diagnose heart disease, yet the exhibitors and research at TCT 2025 took a more procedural approach to AI for transcatheter therapies, with the majority of use-cases focusing on planning TAVR or PCI.
|
|
How to Improve Cardiology Workflows and Get More Patient Time
Complex processes and reporting requirements can mean cardiologists spend more time with clinical systems than they do with their patients. See how Merge Hemo and Merge Cardio work together to help you streamline and scale your clinical and data management workflows, so you can have more time in front of your patients.
|
|
Explore Vitrea Advanced Visualization
Discover Canon Medical Healthcare IT’s suite of advanced imaging workflows designed to increase efficiency in cardiovascular imaging, and facilitate the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. These cutting-edge tools support the delivery of faster, more accurate care while integrating seamlessly into clinical workflow
|
|
PIA’s Post-Processing Solution
Advanced cardiac imaging often calls for a time-consuming post-processing step, requiring costly software, hardware, and training. See how PIA provides this post-processing at lower cost, improved consistency, and greater efficiency.
|
|
- A New DCB Option: Two studies at TCT 2025 showed that Cordis’ new drug-coated balloon, Selution, works as well as traditional stents for treating heart blockages – at least after one year. The SELUTION DeNovo trial found the balloon was equally effective as stents in new blockages, with 5.3% complications versus 4.4% after one year, potentially avoiding the need for permanent metal stents. On the other hand, the SELUTION4ISR study showed similar results for treating blockages inside old stents (16.2% vs 14.5% complications).
- No Short-Cut to CAD VICTORY: Another pair of TCT studies found that older, cheaper balloon tools work as well as Shockwave’s IVL technology for treating calcified heart blockages. The Short-Cut trial showed that cutting balloons matched IVL results, while saving $3,602 per case. Meanwhile, the VICTORY trial found that super-high-pressure balloons led to similar outcomes as IVL. Since both options showed similar efficacy, coronary calcification treatment could shift to using cheaper balloon technologies first, then using IVL, especially in hospitals that foot the bill for devices themselves.
- RDN CMS Coverage and Medtronic’s Spyrals: The CMS finalized a National Coverage Determination for using renal denervation to treat hypertension, leading to Medicare coverage for Medtronic’s Symplicity Spyral and Recor Medical’s Paradise System. Shortly before the CMS announcement, Medtronic presented its three-year SPYRAL HTN-ON MED trial results at TCT 2025, showing sustained blood pressure reductions with Symplicity Spyral. Per the study, RDN-treated patients achieved significantly greater reductions versus sham controls (24hr ambulatory SBP: -14.0 mmHg vs. -9.3 mmHg, office SBP: -18.5 mmHg v. -11.7 mmHg).
- How EggNest Protects the Cath Lab: Egg Medical presented real-world results at TCT 2025 showing that its EggNest Complete Radiation Protection System dramatically reduces occupational radiation exposure during cardiovascular procedures. Operators averaged only 0.16 mRem per case, requiring over 31k procedures to approach annual limits, while nurses and technologists received just 0.03 mRem per case. The system protects entire interventional teams from scatter radiation’s cancer and cataract risks while eliminating heavy lead aprons that cause orthopedic injuries.
- Edwards Nails MV and TV Replacement: Edwards Lifesciences announced positive results from two trials evaluating its heart valve treatments at TCT. The ENCIRCLE trial showed its SAPIEN M3 mitral valve replacement effectively eliminated leaky heart valves in 96% of patients, with low death rates and improved quality of life at one year. Meanwhile, the EVOQUE tricuspid valve registry, tracked over 1,000 real-world patients and showed better safety results than previous studies, with lower pacemaker needs and bleeding rates.
- Removing Blood Clots Better than Anticoagulation: Presented as a TCT late breaker, the STORM-PE trial found that blood clot removal devices work better than blood thinners alone for treating dangerous lung clots. One hundred patients received either a clot-removal device (Penumbra’s Lightning Flash) plus blood thinners or just blood thinners. After 48 hours, the device group showed greater improvement in heart strain measurements. Researchers suggest the technology could be a game changer, though longer-term results are still needed.
- Heartflow’s PCI Navigator: Shortly before exhibiting it at TCT, Heartflow unveiled PCI Navigator, a new AI tool that helps cardiologists plan stent procedures before patients enter the operating room. Using CT scans, it creates 3D models showing blockage locations, plaque types, and blood flow in one view, which normally takes significant time to gather during procedures. As part of PCI Navigator’s introduction, Heartflow also presented its PLAN CALCIUM study that showed the technology changed treatment plans in over half of cases with heavily calcified arteries.
- Philips Adds CT/Cath Lab Integration: Adding to the TCT imaging buzz, Philips announced a new feature for its workstation software that brings pre-operative CT images directly into cath lab workflow. The company has integrated its Advanced Visualization Workspace software with the Azurion image-guided therapy system through a new capability called Follow C-arm that automatically synchronizes 3D reconstruction of coronary arteries with Azurion C-arm’s movement. The feature is the first step toward CT-guided percutaneous coronary intervention.
- AI Plaque Analysis Predicts Adverse Events: In other news from TCT 2025, researchers presented the latest results from the CONFIRM2 trial with Cleerly’s AI software for quantitative coronary CT analysis. In 6.6k symptomatic patients, AI-QCT results showed that noncalcified plaque volume and stenosis diameter predicted heart attack and death, with patients in the highest third of noncalcified plaque volume having nearly twice the risk (HR = 1.93). Also, many adverse events happened in patients without obstructive coronary artery disease.
- Circle CVI’s Plaque Analysis AI Gets FDA Nod: The FDA cleared a new tool from Circle Cardiovascular Imaging for coronary plaque analysis using CT scans. The company’s cvi42 | Plaque solution quantitatively assesses coronary plaque and identifies patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. The software is integrated into users’ CT workflow and performs automated segmentation of the coronary lumen and wall, as well as per-lesion and per-vessel analysis.
- Sparrow’s Stethophone Funding: Sparrow BioAcoustics closed a $10M financing round to scale its FDA-cleared Stethophone platform across North American hospitals. The smartphone-based cardiac AI system detects heart anomalies through bioacoustics, with a recent University of Washington study confirming high accuracy in identifying valvular disease and atrial fibrillation. Approximately 40k patients and practitioners have used Stethophone in the past year, uncovering thousands of previously undetected cardiac anomalies and the company is currently evaluating the technology at major clinical sites.
|
|
Personalized Plaque Analysis Now With Medicare Coverage
Heartflow’s Plaque Analysis is now reimbursable thanks to Medicare’s new coverage for AI-enabled plaque analysis of eligible patients with coronary artery disease.
|
|
New Horizons in Structural Heart
TAVR and TMVR rates are rising rapidly, placing more pressure on interventional planning. Tune into this Circle CVI and Radcliffe Cardiology breakout detailing how to leverage modern CT workflows to produce efficient and accurate pre-procedural plans.
|
|
GLS Analysis of Us2.ai’s Fully-Automated Software
Ten years after the first head-to-head comparison of 2D echocardiography, the latest review suggests Us2.ai is among the easiest to use and integrate. Read the study to learn about how Us2.ai’s software requires zero operator input, operates without human intervention, and leads to high agreement with traditional semi-automated speckle- tracking software solutions.
|
|
- RoR in the Real World with Monebo and UNCG: Strenuous exercise can significantly reduce people’s heart relaxation reserve, putting them at risk without preliminary warning signs. Find out how Monebo’s new Reserve of Relaxation technology provides a crucial tool for anyone looking to enhance their physical performance without harm.
- Median Survival for HeartMate 3 LVAD Patients Exceeds 5 years: Find out why for select transplant-eligible patients, the HeartMate 3 LVAD and heart transplant can be used as complementary therapies, resulting in net prolongation of life and even extending many patients’ lives 10+ years.
- Identify and Treat Cardiovascular Disease: Complex care pathways make getting patients to the next step a challenge. See how Tempus Next, an AI enabled care pathway platform, helps providers identify and reduce under treatment in cardiovascular disease by adding an intelligent layer onto their routinely generated EHR data.
- How Vista AI Helps Solve the Technologist Shortage: Fewer than 2% of MRI scanners are routinely used for cardiac imaging—mainly due to a shortage of trained technologists amid rising demand. Vista AI addresses this challenge by automating CMR scanning, empowering technologists of all experience levels to deliver high-quality cardiac exams consistently and efficiently.
- 5,600 Ways to Improve Your Cardiac Ultrasound Workflow: AI-powered measurements can enhance the way you acquire and interpret cardiac ultrasound. Learn how AI-powered ultrasound can help you overcome everyday limitations in echo. Read Siemens Healthineers’ white paper on how its AI software provides 5,600+ automated measurements to help improve workflow efficiency, consistency, and clinical confidence.
- Changes in Heart Failure Management: Heart failure is a complex condition with high heart failure hospitalization and cardiovascular mortality rates, especially among patients with HFpEF and HFmrEF, for whom treatment options have been limited. Read how Bayer’s Dr. Alanna Morris-Simon discusses the changing treatment landscape and strategies for improving patient outcomes.
|
|
|
|
|
