The Xpress-Way RX extraction catheter, a device that removes soft emboli and thrombi from vessels in the coronary and peripheral vasculature has recently received FDA 510K clearance. The catheter is manufactured by the Japanese corporation Kaneka and distributed exclusively by Atrium Medical in the United States.
Xpress-Way RX incorporates an innovative removable stylet and has been designed with enhanced pushability, anti-kinking, trackability and crossability which allows for unmatched deliverability and market leading performance. Outside the United States, the Xpress-Way RX is marketed as the Thrombuster II.
Thrombus aspiration uses the suction force generated from a syringe to pull soft fresh thrombus from a vessel. Thrombus can form throughout the body, but manual thrombus aspiration is commonly used in patients that have heart attacks. The main cause of heart attacks is due to a plaque rupture in one of the major coronary arteries, which causes a blood clot to form reducing blood flow and depriving the heart muscle downstream of oxygen rich blood. Manual thrombus aspiration is one tool used by interventional cardiologists to remove the blood clot and restore critical blood flow to the heart muscle.
