Angioplasty News and Research

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In angioplasty procedures, a balloon is fed through a catheter and used to prop open an artery that has become narrowed or blocked. In cases where stenting is appropriate, a stent mounted on a balloon is inserted and inflation of the balloon expands the stent against the blocked artery wall to hold the vessel open. The balloon is then deflated and the catheter is withdrawn. Stent treatment of arteries holds them open and improves blood flow to the heart. In cases where post-dilatation is needed, a high-pressure balloon is inflated inside a stent to help better place the stent against the vessel wall.

Outcomes for STEMI patients improve with early treatment intervention

A recent study found that individuals experiencing chest pain who had electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) assessments prior to arriving at the hospital experienced a significantly reduced time-to-treatment or door-to-balloon (D2B) time.

21 Jan 2010

$SIR supports use of vertebral augmentation for patients with spine fractures$

SIR supports use of vertebral augmentation for patients with spine fractures

Given the current controversy over vertebroplasty-a minimally invasive treatment performed by interventional radiologists in individuals with painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures that fail to respond to conventional medical therapy-what's a patient to do?

20 Jan 2010

Cook Medical presents latest advancements at ISET 2010 International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy

Signaling its continued commitment to addressing the anatomy of the entire peripheral vasculature and combating disease with targeted diagnostic and interventional devices, Cook Medical is presenting its latest advancements at the ISET 2010 International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy.

20 Jan 2010

Invatec's REEF HP PTA Balloon Catheter receives FDA marketing clearance

Invatec, a comprehensive innovator of cardiovascular products, today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its REEF HP™, a PTA Balloon Catheter, for use in peripheral high pressure dilatation procedures. The “lesion-specific” design of the balloon material is particularly useful in hard-to-dilate situations.

19 Jan 2010

CSI receives authorization to begin its pivotal trial of ORBIT II

Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (CSI), has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conditional Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its Diamondback 360® System in the treatment of calcified coronary lesions. With this conditional approval, CSI is authorized to begin its pivotal trial, ORBIT II, in early 2010 and initially enroll up to 100 patients at as many as 50 U.S. sites.

17 Jan 2010

LUMEN 2010 analyzes strategies to reduce rising mortality in women with cardiovascular disease

It is no longer a theory. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary angioplasty is the best treatment for a person presenting with STEMI (ST- elevation myocardial infarction), a heart attack caused by complete obstruction of a coronary artery.

13 Jan 2010

New cardiac procedure may reduce complications and hospital costs

A new approach to common cardiac procedures called transradial angiography might lead to reduced patient complications and recovery time and decreased hospital costs.

7 Jan 2010

ORNL story tips for January 2010

World-class computing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could be unleashed to save as much as $50 billion per year in fraud, waste and abuse in the nation's health care system.

6 Jan 2010

UC San Diego bioengineering professor receives 2009 Presidential Science Prize

For Shu Chien - a pioneer in the growing field of bioengineering - understanding and learning the marvels of how the human body works has been the foundation of his decades-long quest to advance science and technology worldwide. The UC San Diego bioengineering professor's significant scientific endeavors have paved the way for recognition of his renowned work at the university's Jacobs School of Engineering and abroad.

6 Jan 2010

ART publishes impressive data on its bioresorbable stent

Arterial Remodeling Technologies (“ART”) announced today that it has disclosed impressive in vivo and in vitro data related to its bioresorbable stent platform—data that validates the Company’s approach to simultaneously balance biocompatibility, biomechanics and bioresorption in a bioresorbable PLA (polylactic acid) stent without altering healing by drug elution from the stent platform.

5 Jan 2010

AngioDynamics introduces new family of micro-introducer kits with stiffened introducer option

AngioDynamics today announced the launch of a new family of micro-introducer kits, featuring a stiffened introducer option.

30 Dec 2009

AngioDynamics introduces its new Total Abscession nephrostomy drainage catheter

AngioDynamics announced today the release of its new Total Abscession nephrostomy drainage catheter. The launch of this product completes the Total Abscession family of products – including general drains and a biliary drainage catheter – giving physicians and hospitals a full range of choice from one source.

29 Dec 2009

Antithrombotic medication may increase risk of bleeding in dialysis patients undergoing PCI procedure

Approximately 20 percent of dialysis patients undergoing a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedure such as angioplasty) are given an antithrombotic medication they should not receive, which may increase their risk for in-hospital bleeding, according to a study in the December 9 issue of JAMA.

9 Dec 2009

Geisinger installs catheter-based cardiac assist device, Impella 2.5

A minimally invasive, catheter-based cardiac assist device - the Impella 2.5 - is credited with saving the life of 86-year-old Rose Lombardo of Hazleton. Grandmother to seven and great-grandmother to another 12, Rose was "at death's door" after suffering concurrent heart attacks, according to her daughter, Gabriella Norgard.

8 Dec 2009

Atrium Medical commences enrollment in its INFUSE AMI trial

Atrium Medical Corporation announced that the 1st patient was enrolled in the INFUSE AMI trial. INFUSE AMI is a multi-center, multi-national, prospective, randomized, single blind trial examining how patients with heart attacks are treated. The study's aim is to help determine the best way to treat patients with an acute anterior wall myocardial infarction (acute MI) with ST segment elevation, commonly referred to as STEMIs.

7 Dec 2009

Svelte Medical Systems selected as winner of New England Venture Summit Top Innovator award

Svelte Medical Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a winner of the annual New England Venture Summit Top Innovator award by youngStartup Ventures.

5 Dec 2009

Minimally invasive spine surgery poised for rapid growth

Minimally invasive techniques have become standard for many procedures, from the removal of the gallbladder to angioplasty, but the approach is now only beginning to be available to patients with spinal conditions. The surgical team at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center's Spine Center aims to bring the benefits of minimally invasive surgery for patients with intractable back pain, stenosis, spinal deformity, even spinal cancer.

4 Dec 2009

Yale researchers survey door-to-balloon times in 831 hospitals

Healthcare professionals using new time-saving strategies to coordinate care for patients having a heart attack saw dramatic improvement in "door-to-balloon" (D2B) times-the time from when a patient enters the hospital to the time blood flow is restored to the heart by opening a blockage with angioplasty. The faster patients are treated, the more likely they are to survive. The results are published by Yale researchers and their colleagues in the December 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

3 Dec 2009

Research finds change in the outlook of people with type 2 diabetes and heart disease

The outlook for individuals with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease is not as grim as originally believed, according to new Saint Louis University research published in Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association.

2 Dec 2009

Harvest Technologies' BMAC System exhibits potential as an effective treatment for CLI

Harvest Technologies Corp. announced today results from the company sponsored 60-patient clinical trial conducted at Sri Ramachandra Medical Center in Chennai, India using the company's BMAC System to treat patients with non-reconstructable Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI). Sri Ramachandra Medical Center is a Harvard Medical international-associated institution based in Chennai, India and one of the largest private healthcare facilities in South Asia.

2 Dec 2009