Neurovascular Retriever for Clot Removal Launched
Concentric Medical received FDA approval for their new neurovascular retriever (pdf), the Merci L6 Retriever. The company already has four other products on the market from their line of Merci neurovascular retrievers. This product is intended for use in larger vessels, which was a gap in the Merci Retriever line.
The wire, manufactured with nitinol, is capable of retaining its fundamental shape. This material composition allows the device to maintain a linear approach while advancing through the vessel and coiling to capture a clot. The L6 has a 2.7mm cylindrical helix that incorporates attached filaments. The filaments support removal of the clot by adding an additional component to secure the clot during removal from the vessel. This design is intended to reduce the potential damage to brain tissue in the area around the clot.
The tool is employed using standard catheterization techniques, accessing an artery in the groin that leads to the brain. When the clot is reached, the Retriever is deployed, returning the device to its coiled shape. The nitinol manufacture supports deployment of the device into its original shape at that time. The retriever than engages, captures, and removes the blood clot.
This new product is designed to be used in conjunction with two other products in the Merci line, the Merci Balloon Guide, and the Merci Microcatheter. The combination of products can be acquired in the preferred iteration to most appropriately treat a given patient. These products offer clinicians an alternative to treat stroke patients who do not respond to clot busting therapy.
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August 30, 2007 Related topics: Product Launches, Surgery, Psychiatry & Neurology