Embolic Protection

Embolic Protection Inc. has developed a guidewire-based filtering device for retrieving and removing embolic debris released into the bloodstream during angioplasty and stenting. These small particles can lodge in blood vessels downstream, blocking blood flow and increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. EPI has a low-profile, "one size fits all" device, which the company believes is much more effective at both removing and retaining embolic particles than other filtering devices currently under development.

There is no disputing the many advantages of catheter-based interventional procedures for coronary, renal and peripheral vascular applications. Less invasive and less costly than traditional open surgery, these procedures nonetheless carry a risk, under-recognized for many years, of complications caused by embolic debris. Virtually all angioplasty or stenting procedures result in the release of small pieces of plaque or clots into the bloodstream. These particles can become lodged in distal vessels, blocking blood flow and threatening the patient with problems that range from the fairly benign to the catastrophic, including heart attack and stroke.

With hundreds of thousands of such procedures performed worldwide each year, the medical device industry has been quick to respond to the need for embolic protection. Medtronic Inc. 's PercuSurge Inc. has developed a device that occludes blood flow beyond the lesion, then aspirates embolic particles from the vessel following the interventional procedure. MedNova Ltd

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