Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq: VOLC), a leading developer and manufacturer of precision intravascular therapy guidance tools designed to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral vascular disease, announced today that it has acquired the Xtract™ Thrombus Aspiration Catheter device line from Lumen Biomedical.
Volcano became the exclusive global distributor of the Xtract™ catheter in May 2009. This acquisition reinforces Volcano's dedication to build a strategic portfolio of diagnostic and therapeutic tools to help patients with coronary artery disease at all levels of complexity, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or heart attacks.
The Xtract™ thrombus aspiration catheter supports the care of ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). The main cause of heart attacks is a plaque rupture in one of the main coronary arteries. Plaque builds up in the arterial wall and ruptures, which can generate a blood clot or thrombus that blocks blood flow and deprives the heart muscle of oxygen. As long as the clot subsists, cells of the heart muscle will continue to die and worsen the patient's condition. The Xtract™ aspiration catheter, with its patented, large single lumen design, circular right-angle tip, and curved directional distal segment, delivers fast and powerful clot removal to help re-establish blood flow quickly. The product line includes two sizes, with the larger size model offering the largest aspiration lumen of any aspiration catheter, for effective and efficient clot extractions.
"Volcano is excited to fortify its commitment to be the leading and most-trusted partner for physicians when addressing patients with complex disease states that require thrombus aspiration," said Scott Huennekens, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volcano. "Since we began to distribute the Xtract™ catheter last year, it has been well-received by the interventional cardiology community. Consistent with our drive to continuously improve our product offerings, we now have control over the product and rights to the design, and will be able to directly build upon the feedback we have received from our customers on how to further improve upon our unique approach to thrombus aspiration."