The Tricuspid Valve Was Forgotten for Decades. TRiCares Is Changing That with Ahmed Elmouelhi

<p>In this episode, Jordan is joined by Ahmed Elmouelhi, President &amp; CEO of TRiCares, the company behind Topaz, a purpose-built transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement system now in head-to-head pivotal trial against Edwards EVOQUE in the US.</p><p><br></p><p>Ahmed brings over 20 years of structural heart experience, including nearly a decade building TAVR and LAA therapies at AtriCure and Medtronic, and explains exactly why he crossed to the right side of the heart and what it took to build a valve that doesn&#39;t behave like anything the field has seen before.</p><p><br></p><p>Key Topics:</p><p>Why the tricuspid valve was &quot;the forgotten valve&quot; for decades and what changed</p><p>The design philosophy behind Topaz: building a soft, flexible valve purpose-built for the right side of the heart</p><p>Going head-to-head with Edwards EVOQUE in the TRICURE US IDE pivotal trial</p><p>What the first 20 patients taught TRiCares the good, the bad, and the ugly</p><p>Running dual CE mark and US pivotal studies simultaneously, and what that demands from leadership and board</p><p>The three things TRiCares hires for: hungry, humble, and smart</p><p><br></p><p>Related Insights:</p><p>Why more than 25% pacemaker rates in current TTVR systems are clinically and economically untenable</p><p>How ICE-based (intracardiac echo) guidance is reducing procedural imaging burden and removing the need for general anaesthesia</p><p>The &quot;smooth is fast, slow is smooth&quot; operating philosophy borrowed from Formula One</p><p>What physicians should look for when choosing which TTVR pivotal study to join</p><p><br></p><p>Core Challenges:</p><p>The tricuspid annulus is highly variable in anatomy and extremely low-pressure, everything that works in aortic and mitral valve replacement has to be unlearned when building for the right side of the heart.</p><p>The current commercial standard (Edwards EVOQUE) carries a pacemaker implant rate exceeding 25%, often appearing after discharge, a clinical, economic, and patient safety problem that TRiCares is targeting with a reported 0% rate from its soft outer shell design.</p><p>Running two concurrent pivotal trials across the US and Europe while building out a team, infrastructure, and physician network is a resource and execution challenge that demands an experienced, aligned board.</p><p><br></p><p>Tune in now to hear why Ahmed believes the tricuspid space has the potential to outgrow TAVR and what it will take to get the