On Dec. 11, 2019, Dennis Eggers became the first patient in a new clinical trial to receive a minimally invasive device that repaired his faulty heart valve – and without open-heart surgery. The compact device was inserted through a leg vein and placed inside a failing valve by a physician using a catheter that was controlled from outside the patient’s body.

The human heart has four chambers, each of which have a valve that controls the flow of blood as it obtains oxygen from the lungs. That refreshed and recirculated blood supplies the body with oxygen we need to live.

It’s becoming more common to repair faulty heart valves through catheters because it enables patients to recover much more quickly. But the tricuspid valve – which sits between the top and bottom chambers on the right side of the heart – has very complex features and was only repairable through open-heart surgery, until recently. The relatively simple procedure enabled Eggers to leave the hospital the following day. Open-heart surgery patients are typically hospitalized for at least a week.