Cook releases new IVC filter delivery system
Each year, nearly three million people are diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis. Of those, 600,000 are diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism (PE) caused by a venous clot. Of those, 200,000 will die from PE. Cook Medical has streamlined its inferior vena cava (IVC) filter delivery system, NavAlign, to help interventionalist place filters that help patients avoid PE.
“Pulmonary embolism is a big problem,” said Mark Breedlove, director of the strategic technology unit of Cook.
Cook introduced the NavAlign, at the recent Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapies (TCT) meeting in San Francisco.
The NavAlign can be used with the Celect and Gunther Tulip IVC filters. A hemostatic valve minimizes blood loss at the point of entry, while a multipurpose dilator has radiopaque sizing bands and flushing sideports that decrease fluoroscopy time and the amount of contrast medium required, according to Breedlove.
Breedlove said the new delivery system cuts out about five steps compared to the old system, which required multiple exchanges. “The 7F introducer sheath incorporates marker bands 30 mm apart, so interventionalists can measure their sideports and get venograms all at once,” he said.
About half of filter placements are done by interventional radiologists, the rest being split evenly among interventional cardiologists and surgeons. The procedure is fully reimbursable, garnering between $1,200 and $1,500 per filter. Retrieving the filter is also reimbursable.
“Pulmonary embolism is a big problem,” said Mark Breedlove, director of the strategic technology unit of Cook.
Cook introduced the NavAlign, at the recent Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapies (TCT) meeting in San Francisco.
The NavAlign can be used with the Celect and Gunther Tulip IVC filters. A hemostatic valve minimizes blood loss at the point of entry, while a multipurpose dilator has radiopaque sizing bands and flushing sideports that decrease fluoroscopy time and the amount of contrast medium required, according to Breedlove.
Breedlove said the new delivery system cuts out about five steps compared to the old system, which required multiple exchanges. “The 7F introducer sheath incorporates marker bands 30 mm apart, so interventionalists can measure their sideports and get venograms all at once,” he said.
About half of filter placements are done by interventional radiologists, the rest being split evenly among interventional cardiologists and surgeons. The procedure is fully reimbursable, garnering between $1,200 and $1,500 per filter. Retrieving the filter is also reimbursable.