Relief Cardiovascular Announces First-in-Human Procedures with World’s First Transcatheter Smart Implant for the Treatment of Congestion in Heart Failure
IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Relief Cardiovascular, a private company developing transcatheter smart implants to transform the treatment of heart failure, today announced the successful first-in-human use of the Relief System – the world’s first implant designed to both hemodynamically monitor and treat congestion in heart failure.
The breakthrough procedures were performed in the Republic of Georgia as part of a feasibility study evaluating the system’s safety. Implantations were carried out by Dr. Tamaz Shaburishvili, Dr. Levan Sulakvelidze, and Dr. Gigi Shaburishvili at Tbilisi Heart and Vascular Center, with support from Dr. Alex Rothman, Professor of Cardiology at the University of Sheffield. Patients were discharged to their homes with their implanted Relief System automatically syncing with the cloud nightly.
The Relief System features a pressure-guided active valve implanted in the vena cava to dynamically reduce cardiac preload and enhance renal vein flow on demand. By integrating hemodynamic monitoring with an adaptive hemodynamic therapy into a single transcatheter implant system, the Relief System introduces a new paradigm in heart failure: direct, personalized decongestion via a data-driven therapeutic implant.
