Heat Exchange Catheter Cleared for Marketing
Alsius, a company dedicated to the development of products to control patient temperature in critical care, recently announced clearance of their new exchange system, the Solex Catheter. This device is indicated to treat patients who require temperature management.
The Solex is inserted directly into a patient’s neck and offers triple lumen central venous access for clinicians. Through this access point, clinicians can deliver either warming or cooling therapy. Therapy is delivered by circulation of either hot or cool water that travels into the balloons around the catheters.
The catheter design is a serpentine balloon. This provides maximal contact with surface area even with a short and thin catheter.
The Solex catheter, like the company’s other products, is used with the Thermogard XP and CoolGard 3000 Intravascular Temperature Management Systems. The company launched their Quattro catheter earlier this year. That is a four balloon heat exchange catheter that is placed in the leg.
This new product increases the range of settings in which Alsius temperature management tools can be utilized. The company suggests that they are alone in offering a temperature management system through either a leg or neck access point.
August 27, 2008 Related topics: Critical Care, Product Approval & Certification, New Technology & Innovation