Volcano announced on 1 February 2013 it has a new interactive educational tool to facilitate learning about IVUS-guided interventional procedures with its new Visions PV .035 Digital IVUS catheter. The new Aortic IVUS App for iPad, available on the Apple App Store, provides case examples with interactive education on the procedural workflow and image interpretation, and is intended for healthcare professionals involved in endovascular aortic procedures.
“I am glad Volcano saw the utility of developing an app for IVUS technique and image interpretation,” said Jacques Kpodonu, cardiovascular surgeon and surgical director of the Cardiac Hybrid and Endovascular Therapies Program at Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital, Newport Beach, USA. Kpodonu, who assisted in the app’s development, explained, “A multimedia-based, animated demonstration of IVUS video co-registered with the catheter’s position in the aorta is an ideal way to explain the endoaortic surgical procedural steps along with the images. This tool could be very helpful for fellows and physicians wanting to learn about a low contrast IVUS-guided surgical approach to endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR).”
Volcano chose its new Visions PV.035 Digital IVUS catheter for the educational tool because it offers an opportunity for an interventional solution using less contrast which may be beneficial for renal insufficient patients. According to company officials, IVUS may be used in some cases instead of an initial contrast angiogram to identify anatomical landmarks during endovascular aortic repair. Furthermore, the Visions PV .035 catheter incorporates new centimeter markers that enable the user to make length measurements between landmarks without the need for other devices.
Frank Arko, director of Endovascular Surgery at the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, USA, said, “With the new catheter, I can more easily accomplish a case with very little contrast.”
Company executives highlighted other catheter enhancements compared to the existing Visions PV 8.2 catheter, including a longer connector length to improve procedural flexibility, new materials allowing for a softer, more rounded tip with lower entry profile and GlyDx hydrophilic coating to aid in delivery through tortuous anatomy. The catheter is now available for all customers in the US and Europe (CE countries).
