Global medical device firm Sorin Group has enrolled first patients in the Vagal Nerve Stimulation Safeguarding Heart Failure (Vanguard) clinical trial.

The company reported the first successful implants of the Equilia system in the Vanguard trial.

France’s Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou (HEGP) cardiology department head and Vanguard study principal investigator Albert Hagège said: "Neurostimulation is expected to prolong heart failure patients’ survival, improve their quality of life and reduce the number of hospital readmissions."

According to Sorin, the study has been designed to evaluate the efficacy of neurostimulation system Equilia in the treatment of heart failure patients.

Equilia system is being developed to treat heart failure by stimulating the vagus nerve. It will normalise the autonomic imbalance by stimulating the vagus nerve.

The system comprises small device implanted under the skin in the patient’s chest, which delivers electrical pulses through the EquiCurl lead placed around the vagus nerve in the neck area.

Sorin Group CEO André-Michel Ballester said: "Equilia is New Ventures’ first innovation to enter clinical trials. Vagus nerve stimulation has the potential to expand the clinical indications for device-based therapies for heart failure and we look forward to bringing this exciting new therapy to the market."