Large animals still remain the best tool to investigate severe diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases,’ Biondi-Zoccai G. 2013. One of the continuing aims of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries is the development of new and better pharmaceuticals and devices to help cure illnesses. Before applications of new medicines and medical devices reach humans, rigorous in vitro and in vivo experiments are performed to prove the safety of the new treatment mode. For in vivo testing, small (e.g. rodents) and large animals (e.g. pigs) are used, depending on the scientific and medical questions being asked, considering the ‘3R rules’ (replace, reduce, refine) of animal experiments, and the veterinary ethical issues.