CorMatrix Cardiovascular, Inc. announced the first use of the CorMatrix ECM Technology in a patient undergoing cardiac surgery, by which the company has begun its expansion in Europe. Professor Stephan Jacobs, M.D., and Professor Volkmar Falk, M.D., both of University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland have completed implanting this device in Europe. The professors utilized the CorMatrix ECM Technology to close the pericardium of a 70-year-old patient following triple coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. CorMatrix ECM Technology, after the implantation by a surgeon, acts as a scaffold into which the patient's own cells migrate and integrate, stimulating the body's innate wound-healing mechanisms to repair tissue at the site of implantation. As the patient's cells populate the matrix, they lay down their own collagen, which matures over time to form a functional tissue repair. The implanted ECM material is gradually replaced and reabsorbed by the body as the patient's tissue is remodeled.