TUCSON, Ariz., July 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Picard Medical, Inc. (NYSE:PMI) ("Picard" or the "Company"), parent company of SynCardia Systems LLC, today announced a major milestone in the development of its Emperor Total Artificial Heart (Emperor TAH) program following the first public scientific presentation of the integrated Emperor Total Artificial Heart architecture at the 48th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE EMBC 2026) held July 26-30 in Toronto.

Presented by Taha Hasekioglu, Director, Office of the COO & Emperor Program Lead, the poster entitled "The Emperor Total Artificial Heart: A Preliminary Electromechanical Architecture for a Total Artificial Heart" marked the first public disclosure of the Company's next-generation total artificial heart system architecture. The presentation provided the science and engineering community with its first detailed view of how the Emperor Drive System (EDS) integrates with the clinically proven SynCardia Total Artificial Heart (STAH) ventricles to create the Emperor Total Artificial Heart platform.

The Emperor Total Artificial Heart represents the next evolution of the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart platform, combining the proven STAH ventricles with the Company’s patent-pending Emperor Drive System (EDS), a compact electromechanical driver designed to replace the pneumatic drivers currently used with the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart system. The EDS is designed to provide the next-generation drive technology necessary to advance the platform toward future full implantability.

"The IEEE EMBC presentation represented an important milestone for the Emperor program because, for the first time, at the leading globally recognized forum for engineers, we were able to publicly share the integrated architecture of the Emperor TAH," said Taha Hasekioglu, Director, Office of the COO & Emperor Program Lead. "The Emperor program is built on the foundation of the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart, and our approach has been to preserve the proven, blood-contacting components while advancing the drive technology that powers the system. The EDS represents a significant engineering evolution with a smaller, self-confined driver, designed to support the continued advancement of total artificial heart technology."The Emperor TAH architecture preserves the clinically proven SynCardia Total Artificial Heart ventricles, diaphragm assemblies, chamber geometry, and mechanical valve interfaces that have supported more than 2,100 patients worldwide. By maintaining these established components while introducing a next-generation electromechanical drive system, the Company believes the Emperor platform builds upon decades of clinical experience while advancing total artificial heart technology toward a future fully implantable solution.

The poster associated with the latest Emperor design, also presented this week, highlighted the engineering principles behind the patent-pending Emperor TAH architecture, including the integration of the Emperor Drive System with the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart ventricles. The poster also summarized previously reported preclinical evaluations demonstrating physiologic preload-dependent output in Donovan mock circulation testing, stable performance across clinically relevant afterload ranges, and novel acute porcine implantation results supporting anatomic compatibility and short-duration hemodynamic stability under electromechanical actuation.

The SynCardia Total Artificial Heart remains the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved, commercially available total artificial heart and has supported thousands of patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure worldwide. The Emperor TAH builds upon this clinical foundation by pairing the established SynCardia ventricles with a next-generation electromechanical drive system designed to enable future advances in mobility, quality of life, and implantability.

About Picard Medical and SynCardia

Picard Medical, Inc. is the parent company of SynCardia Systems, LLC ("SynCardia"), the Tucson, Arizona–based leader with the only commercially available total artificial heart technology for patients with end-stage heart failure. SynCardia develops, manufactures, and commercializes the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart ("STAH"), an implantable system that assumes the full functions of a failing or failed human heart. It is the first artificial heart approved by both the FDA and Health Canada, and it remains the only commercially available artificial heart in the United States and Canada. With more than 2,100 implants performed at hospitals across 27 countries, the STAH is the most widely used and extensively studied artificial heart in the world. For additional information about Picard Medical, please visit www.picardmedical.com or review the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") at www.sec.gov.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs and involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "expect," "goal," "intend," "may," "plan," "remain," "target," "will," "advance," "expand," and similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words.

These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s financial condition, future operating results, commercialization activities, expectations for growth, expanding utilization of the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart, expanding patient access at transplant centers, supporting clinical partners, advancing development of the Emperor Total Artificial Heart and other next-generation technologies, regulatory submissions and approvals, manufacturing and supply chain initiatives, capital raising activities, strengthening the Company’s commercial and financial position, strategic initiatives, leadership transitions, and other statements that are not historical facts.

Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the Company’s ability to obtain additional financing, maintain compliance with applicable stock exchange listing requirements, achieve commercial adoption of its products, obtain regulatory approvals, execute manufacturing and supply chain initiatives, successfully develop next-generation technologies, manage market conditions, and other risks described in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Additional information about the Company, including risk factors that may affect the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations, is contained in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are available free of charge at www.sec.gov and on the Company’s investor relations website at www.picardmedical.com.

Contact:

Investors

Eric Ribner

Managing Director

LifeSci Advisors LLC

eric@lifesciadvisors.com

Picard Medical, Inc./SynCardia Systems, LLC

IR@picardmedical.com

General/Media

Brittany Lanza

blanza@syncardia.com