Prosthetic heart valve can be inserted without open heart surgery 10/09/2013 - 00:00 Northwestern’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute has enrolled its first participant in SALUS, a clinical trial studying the effectiveness of a prosthetic aortic heart valve that can be placed without open-heart surgery. The heart valve under study, the Direct Flow Medical® Transcathether Aortic Valve System manufactured by Direct Flow Medical, Inc., is a non-metallic, investigational device specifically designed to be placed inside the heart using a catheter that is inserted through a blood vessel in the groin and then navigated into the aorta to the heart.
