MPO’s Most-Read Stories This Week—Feb. 3

This week’s prime traffic driver was anything but a surprise.

Considering all the media attention Royal Philips’s CPAP device recall has generated, it was little wonder the latest development garnered the most pageviews on MPO’s website. The company agreed to cease all new CPAP or BiPAP sleep therapy device sales in the U.S. for the next few years, based on terms of a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) representing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This agreement follows the recall of millions of Philips Respironics breathing devices and ventilators for sleep apnea in 2021 due to concerns about its sound abatement foam degrading and becoming toxic, with potential risks of cancer. Philips will continue to service devices already in circulation but no new devices will be sold in the United States.

There were no surprises in the runners-up to Philips’s traffic-topping news, either: personnel and new products (technology) aroused the most interest among cybervisitors. 
 
Vicarious Surgical attracted considerable online engagement by naming a new president, whille Stimvia followed suit by completing enrollment in a pilot study for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor treatment. Trial participants will use the company’s URIS device, which employs a new method called peroneal neuromodulation.
 
Herrmann Ultrasonics garnered a fair amount of web traffic with word of its (not yet approved) adhesion-free, ultrasonic welding solution for wearable medical devices, particularly continuous glucose monitoring devices. Boston Scientific, meanwhile, made its own cyberwaves by earning FDA approval for its Farapulse pulsed field ablation (PFA) system. The technology is indicated for isolation of pulmonary veins to treat drug-refractory, recurrent, symptomatic, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. PFA is a new alternative to standard-of-case thermal ablation treatment, where a catheter is guided to the heart’s interior and generates extreme hot or cold to destroy targeted areas associated with arrhythmias.

1. Philips Stops U.S. Sleep Apnea Device Sales After FDA Deal

2. Vicarious Surgical Names Randy Clark as President

3. Enrollment Completed in Pilot Study for Parkinson’s Disease Treatment

4. Boston Scientific Gains FDA Approval for Farapulse Pulsed Field Ablation

5. Hermann Ultrasonics Develops Ultrasonic Welding for Wearable Technology