While editors chose Edwards Lifesciences as the 2016 Medtech Company of the Year, readers selected another company as their favorite.

Hypertension and heart failure are some of the biggest health problems facing patients today, so it's fitting that MD+DI's readers chose a company focused on solving those problems as the Readers' Choice Medtech Company of the Year. CVRx has developed the Barostim Neo, an implantable system that stimulates baroreceptors to treat high blood pressure and heart failure.

CVRx, which has CE Mark for its device, has had stellar success with funding, having raised $93 million in venture capital just this year. While the company has faced challenges in the past, FDA has granted the technology an Expedited Access Pathway designation and  a pivotal trial for heart failure is underway in the United States. 

One reader praised CVRx's perseverance, writing that "Their tenacity is unfaltering. They continue to develop great therapy for two of the most prevalent diseases in the world--hypertension and heart failure--both without any real options for patients. And investors get it, that's why CVRx continues to raise money. CVRx therapy will undoubtedly bring much-needed help [to] millions of patients in the coming years."

Another reader pointed to the potential for CVRx's technology to bring a device solution to hypertension and heart failure, writing, "I believe that the CVRx product will open the door for a whole new therapy regimen."

It's worth noting that CVRx is considerably smaller than many of the companies--some well-known medtech giants--that made our list of finalists. "CVRx, despite being small, has an incredibly experienced senior staff, and expertly guides itself through challenging markets. Its mobility and spirit is unparalleled," wrote one voter.

Not far behind CVRx in the reader poll was another cardiac-related company, iRhythm Technologies. iRhythm offers the ZIO XT patch, a wearable that offers ambulatory monitoring of a patient's heart rhythm for up to 14 days. After analysis of that patient data using an algorithm, certified technicians prepare a report. While management has pointed out there is plenty of room to continue the technology's penetration into the symptomatic patient population, research is also being conducted into whether the Zio XT patch can be useful in asymptomatic patients with a higher risk of atrial fibrillation. Another key milestone for iRhythm--the company recently went public, one of the few medtech companies to do so this year.

One reader wrote, "The ZIO service is a winner on all fronts; actionable clinical data, high patient compliance compared to traditional Holter monitoring, high diagnostic yields, building big annotated data, all at a lower cost to our healthcare system."

The technology "helped save my grandfather's life!," another reader wrote, simply. 

Saving patient lives. That's always the final measure of a top notch medtech company.

[Image courtesy of KITTIKUN-ATSAWINTARANGKUL/FREEDIGITALPHOTOS.NET]