Edwards Lifesciences

Healing Doors of the Heart

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artificial_heart_valves_(450128462).jpg

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of deaths around the world.  Many people believe that the disease is when a person gets a heart attack.  What the people don’t realize is that cardiovascular disease can effect a person in several different ways; heart attack being only one on them.

Cardiovascular disease is characterized by the hardening of the plaque that is found in the blood. This can lead to the formation of clots in the arteries which could cause heart attacks.  However, it can also lead to the hardening of the walls of the heart valves.

The human heart has four heart valves and each prevents the blood from flowing backwards when the heart contracts.  If these valves do not function properly then blood flow will be reduced because the pressure of the heart will push the blood backwards.  To fix this issue, doctors can replace a patient’s heart valves with ones that are artificially made.  One such heart valve is SAPIEN heart valve created by Edwards Life Sciences.  

Edwards Lifesciences was founded in 1958 by a man who set out to build the first artificial heart. Miles Lowell Edwards was a retired engineer who wanted to help patients with heart disease. After just two years, Edward designed, developed and successfully implanted the first artificial heart valve.

Today, Edwards Lifesciences manufactures tissue replacement heart valves and products for vascular therapy along with hemodynamic monitoring devices for measuring cardiovascular performance during surgery. One of the most frequently implanted heart valve used around the world was created by Edwards Labs. The Edwards SAPIEN heart valve can be inserted through multiple routes including leg incision, between the ribs or through a small hole in the aorta. This procedure allows the valve to be replaced without open heart surgery and while the heart continues to beat. The Edwards SAPIEN heart valve set a standard in the cardiovascular industry and is still the most widely studied heart valve transcatheter around the world.

Edwards lifesciences is headquartered in Irvine, Ca and offers internships and development programs. If you would like to apply to one of these programs, click here.  If you are interested in a career at Edwards Lifesciences, then visit their careers page here.