JC Medical, based in Burlingame, California, has announced that its J-Valve transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve system has been implanted in the first patient to treat aortic regurgitation. Other transcatheter aortic valves available in the U.S. are indicated for aortic stenosis only, but the new device hopes to also treat pure aortic regurgitation and a combination of aortic stenosis and regurgitation.

The J-Valve has its own unique anchor system that works without requiring calcification to form for it to really hold on tight. It is also connected to a self-expanding stent frame that grabs onto the diseased native valve.

“We are very pleased that our J-Valve could help this patient. We developed the J-Valve to be reliable and easy to use,” in a published statement said Ji Zhang, M.D., founder and CEO of JC Medical. “We thank the physician group who has recognized this unique clinical solution. With approximately 2% of the elderly population having heart failure due to a defective stenotic aortic valve and 1% due to a regurgitant valve, this leads to a significant decrease in the quality of life, the loss of life for many, and costs the healthcare system billions of dollars annually. We look forward to further exploring the promise of J-Valve and its role in treating failing aortic heart valves.”