BELFAST, Ireland, Oct. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — NMT2 is excited to announce its expansion of NobleStitch™ EL into the Irish market with first series of PFO closure cases in Belfast, Ireland. Dr. Mark Spence MD, Interventional Cardiologist and co-founder of the Structural Heart Disease Program at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in Belfast successfully performed the first procedures in September. Belfast Trust is the largest integrated health and social care Trust in the United Kingdom serving nearly 340,000 citizens in Belfast and providing the majority of regional specialist services to all of Northern Ireland.
Dr. Spence has been a driving force in bringing state of the art Interventional solutions to the Belfast Cardiology community. After becoming aware of the NobleStitch™ EL suture-based technology, he reached out to Professor Anthony Nobles, the Inventor of the NobleStitch™ EL and Chairman, CEO and Chief Clinical Officer of NMT2, to arrange the first cases to be performed in Ireland. Dr. Spence chose several patients for the first session including those who needed the option of PFO closure without an implanted “nickel based” umbrella devices.
Following the successful series of treatment of his patients, Dr. Spence commented, “The Belfast Trust congenital heart team and I are delighted to now be able to offer the NobleStitch™ non-surgical suture-based PFO closure system, particularly to our younger patients. The NobleStitch™ EL offers an alternative to using an umbrella-type device in the heart.”
Professor Anthony Nobles, CEO and Chief Clinical Proctor, was on hand to proctor the initial series of cases with Dr. Spence and his team, Prof. Nobles commented, “Each time we enter a new territory it’s a major step in our plan to become the market leader in septal closure, that’s why it is critical that we start with a great institution that has a great team. It was my absolute pleasure to work with Dr. Spence and his talented team, he quickly picked up the technique and achieved great results immediately. We look forward to introducing the NobleStitch™ EL across Ireland and the rest of the U.K.”
Dr. Jim Thompson, Medical director, Child Cardiology Associates and Section Chief, Pediatric Cardiology, Inova Children’s Hospital (Fairfax, Virginia), who has successfully performed over 124 procedures utilizing the NobleStitch™ EL, was on hand today to proctor the second series of cases stated, “It was my great pleasure to work with both Dr. Spence and Dr. Colum Owens as well as their truly professional team. They were very enthusiastic about the NobleStitch™ EL and have already scheduled their next set of cases. I had the opportunity to proctor both Dr. Spence and Dr. Owens today and their ability to quickly adopt the technique was very impressive.”
About PFO Closure
A PFO is a relatively common heart defect characterized by an unsealed tunnel between the right and left atria of the heart. This defect has been known to be present in anywhere between 27%-38% of people. However, in a number of cases, it is benign.
The PFO is formed as a trace of the fetal circulation. When the chambers of a human heart begin to develop, a communication is made between the right and left atria, allowing blood to flow directly from the venous circulation to the arterial circulation, circumventing the non-functioning fetal lungs. Following birth, the pressure differential between the right and left atria changes with newly operational blood flow to the fully functioning lungs. Because of this, the communication eventually closes completely within the first few months.
However, in some patients, the foramen ovale fails to seal and remains “patent”. In patients with a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), the communication can reopen under elevated atrial pressure, such as coughing, or straining.
A key issue with PFO is that it gives a pathway for blood clots to pass directly to the arterial circulation without being filtered out by the capillary bed of the lungs. A PFO can also let deoxygenated blood and certain chemicals cross over to the arterial side. The presence of a PFO has been linked to a number of clinical issues, mainly strokes, migraines and chronic fatigue. Developments are being made to solidify the link between PFO and strokes or migraines, and to identify patients that would benefit from PFO closure.
About Nobles Medical Technology II
Nobles Medical Technology II, Inc. was founded by Prof. Anthony Nobles with the intent of leveraging its technologies in the PFO, ASD-closure, and cardiovascular-suturing marketplace. The company does business under the name of Nobles Medical II (NMT II). Initial efforts of the company have been focused in Europe on the innovative suture-based PFO closure system for closing the Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), a tunnel between the right and left atria of the heart.
The NobleStitch™ is approved for PFO Closure and Cardiovascular suturing in the European Union.
The NobleStitch™ EL is FDA cleared for Vascular and Cardiovascular suturing in the United States. Further information including warnings and precautions can be found in the instructions for use.
NobleStitch™ EL is distributed worldwide by HeartStitch®, Inc. (HeartStitch® is a registered trademark of HeartStitch, Inc.).
NobleStitch™ EL for PFO closure
Covered by or for use under U.S. and international patents including one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 5860990, 6117144, 6245079, 6551331, 6562052, 6733509, 7004952, 7090686, 7803167, 8197497, 8197510, 8246636, 8348962, 8372089, 8469975, 8496676, 8709020, and 9131938.
HeartStitch® manufactures and markets the NobleStitch™ EL under exclusive license from Nobles Medical technologies II, Inc. NobleStitch™ EL is FDA cleared for vascular suturing in the United States and CE Marked for cardio-vascular suturing and PFO closure in the European Union and the Republic of Kazakhstan, respectively.
For more on Nobles Medical Technologies II visit
SOURCE Nobles Medical Technologies II, Inc.
