Clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, Bellerophon Therapeutics, Inc., recently announced that its proprietary program device, a new version of the INOpulse drug-device delivery system, has received EC certification with CE marking, meaning that it has met the European Union’s regulatory health, safety, and environmental requirements for a new medical device and can be marketed…

Ventripoint Diagnostics‘ VMS, a new heart visualization system for cardiac MRI and 3D ultrasounds, was recently deemed an accurate method by a German group of researchers, the company announced on Monday. According to information available on Ventripoint’s website, VMS was originally designed for congenital heart disease, with subsequent…

I cannot believe 2018 is already upon us. I don’t know about you, but 2017 has felt like one ongoing, never-ceasing stress test. For many reasons. I have never been a big believer in New Year’s resolutions. In my experience, resolutions are cobbled together the first week of…

It was like any other morning commute. Stand on the platform with crowds of people, all waiting for the delayed metro train, a more-than-common occurrence in Washington, D.C. When the train arrived around 8, its doors opened and I stepped aboard. Not more than 15 seconds later, a…

“I’m fine.” Even though I know it’s a lie, sometimes it’s easiest for me to give this response when people ask, “How are you?” Why am I so accustomed to saying this even when I feel far from it? The reality is…

As I searched for a new primary care physician (PCP) in March, I learned that finding my new healthcare team after relocating across the country would prove challenging. The first potential candidate spent three hours going over my medical background with me, only to inform me that my health…

Last month, Father Time strapped me to a rocket ship and shot me clear into the wild blue yonder of my fifth decade. That’s right: This geriatric millennial recently turned 40. I’m launching into a new decade and taking my pulmonary hypertension (PH) diagnosis with me. If we’re…

A new study shows that CMR (cardiovascular magnetic resonance) fluoroscopy-guided heart catheterization is a safe method with an appropriate procedure time, high rate of success, and better accuracy than the more commonly used techniques to determine hemodynamic parameters. The study, titled, “CMR fluoroscopy right heart catheterization for cardiac…

Erik Born and his wife, Donna. (Photo courtesy of Erik Born) Day 9 of 30 This is Erik Born’s story: For a few years, I was always short of breath. In 2019, I went to my doctor, who told me my asthma was just getting worse. I was 51…

It didn’t get old. I was still very much amused the third time I deposited a stack of postcards emblazoned with an illustration of the heart pulled from my chest seven months prior. Last February, I mailed 75 graphic Valentine’s Day cards to friends…

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” This is one of my least favorite questions during job interviews, and I hated it even more when I would catch myself lobbing it at prospective co-workers. Oddly enough, if somebody had asked me that question five…

“There is ebb and flow. Leaving and coming. Flight and fall. Sing and silent. Reaching and reached.” – Ally Condie I am unfamiliar with the author of that quote and her thoughts behind it. But as I prepared to write my one-year anniversary column, it grabbed my attention. The…