AtriCure Inc. has closed a $300m structured deal to acquire SentreHEART Inc., a privately held developer of percutaneous left atrial appendage management solutions.

A snapshot of global medical device approvals captured during the past week in Medtech Insight's Approvals Tracker. This week, the US FDA approved Boston Scientific’s Vici Venous iliac vein stent system and SentreHEART announced it has received a CE mark for the 50mm version of the Lariat-RS system for left atrial appendage exclusion in patients with atrial fibrillation.

As first-to-market in the US with a transcatheter left atrial appendage closure device, Boston Scientific has blazed a regulatory and reimbursement trail for other companies in this space and opened up a potentially billion-dollar-plus market. In this second part of our two-part series on LAAC devices, Medtech Insight reports on other companies with current and emerging LAAC devices and looks at how close they are to bringing their technology to the US market.

Since the FDA approval of Boston Scientific Corp.'s WATCHMAN device in March, the US market for left atrial appendage closure devices has reached a tipping point. With first-to-market advantage in the US, and a four- to five-year lead on the competition in bringing a LAAC device to the US market, BSX is well positioned to gain a strong foothold in this potentially billion dollar plus market; however, several factors will dictate market adoption of these devices in the US, including reimbursement, clinical efficacy, cost and ease of use.