Microsulis Medical Ltd (MML), the leading company in microwave technology for medical devices, has successfully launched the Acculis percutaneous microwave tissue ablation system, Accu2i pMTA, at the second European Conference on Interventional Oncology (ECIO) in Florence, Italy. A revolutionary new device for destroying tumours, the system is a 1.8mm diameter closed water-cooled needle, with performance matching the existing Acculis open surgery MTA system. The device brings the benefits of microwave ablation into the realm of the interventional radiologist with applications in liver, lung, bone, kidney and appropriate other sites where local tumour control can be safely secured using volume ablation.
“This system enables surgeons to extend treatment to liver cancer patients who would not normally have been treated. Ongoing studies suggest significantly improved clinical outcomes for tumour control, adding to our armamentarium.”
ECIO is the leading European meeting in this area, attracting attendance this year of over 800 specialist interventional radiologists, surgeons and interventionalists from around the world, as well as providing a major industry technology showcase for leading device manufacturers and distributors. Postponed from earlier in the year, it proved a highly receptive audience for this groundbreaking device.
"The conference has been an extremely successful launch for us," commented Stuart McIntyre, CEO of Microsulis, "As well as introducing the Accu2i to a wider clinical audience, many further international distributors have now been engaged, thereby expanding the worldwide distribution network for the product. This is especially pleasing to us, as it is the latest in a series of product innovations, based on the unique Acculis MTA technology - all developed and patented in the UK." The Accu2i pMTA is the most powerful tumour ablation system currently available, combining extreme ease of use with the widest range of clinical applications. The device is a single high power high frequency 2.45GHz microwave needle that can address tumours over 5cm in size in just 6 minutes, and is therefore between 3 to 10 times faster than other systems. Its launch follows two years of extensive clinical use and evaluation around the world in major liver centres in the US, Asia-Pacific, UK and Europe. It was CE-marked in February 2010 and further international regulatory clearances are expected shortly.
"This system enables surgeons to extend treatment to liver cancer patients who would not normally have been treated. Ongoing studies suggest significantly improved clinical outcomes for tumour control, adding to our armamentarium." said Mr David Lloyd, Consultant HPB Surgeon from Leicester Royal Infirmary who fathered the system along with Professor Nigel Cronin and his microwave science team from the University of Bath, England.
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