Mardil Medical today announced the first-in-human use of its VenTouch Triad ventricular reshaping device designed to treat patients with Type IIIb functional mitral valve regurgitation.

The VenTouch Triad device, which is designed as a combination therapy to treat both the dilated ventricle and resulting distorted valve for FMR patients, was implanted in two patients with Type IIIb FMR at Asunción, Paraguay’s Sanitorio Italiano last month, the Minneapolis, Minn.-based company said.

“After implantation of the VenTouch Triad device, mitral valve regurgitation was markedly reduced. Our heart team was impressed by the ease of placement and the immediate and significant benefit demonstrated with both the ventricular function and the valve anatomy itself in this difficult-to-treat patient population,” cardiologist Dr. George Gellert said in a prepared statement.

“The VenTouch Triad system is unique because it is the only technology that directly addresses the fundamental mechanisms of FMR, namely ventricular enlargement, annular dilation and displacement of the papillary muscles,” heart failure cardiologist Dr. Spencer Kubo said in prepared remarks.

Both patients who were implanted with the device experienced reduced FMR, dropping to mild or trace amounts, Mardil Medical said.

“Having now successfully treated patients with the VenTouch Triad System, Mardil has taken an important step towards our goal of introducing this ground-breaking therapy and giving Type IIIb FMR patients a mechanism-focused and minimally invasive treatment option. With the recent new financing, Mardil is poised to start Canadian and US trials later this year,” CEO & prez Jim Buck said in a press release.