Robots to the rescue: First case of robotic PVI for below-the-knee intervention

According to a new report, robotic peripheral vascular intervention (PVI) can be safely and successfully performed for below-the-knee interventions.

The safety of robotically assisted percutaneous cardiovascular interventions (PCI) has already been established for iliac and femoral peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Allowing the procedure to be performed in this way reduces the risk of exposing physicians to harmful radiation, in addition it reduces the orthopedic hazard for the operator who is forced to wear a heavy lead apron.

To demonstrate the procedure’s effectiveness in lower-extremity PAD, physicians used the CorPath 200 Vascular Robotic System to perform PVI.

A 56-year-old man with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, prior coronary bypass surgery and PAD with a prior left superficial femoral artery stent who had developed Rutherford class 3 lifestyle-limiting claudication affecting both lower extremities served as the case study.

The CorPath 200 Vascular Robotic System (Corindus Vascular Robotics) is designed for remotely delivering and manipulating 0.014 inch guidewires and rapid-exchange balloon/stent catheters during coronary interventional procedures. It consists of a tableside unit with an articulating arm, robotic-drive and single-use sterile cassette, as well as a remote lead-lined workstation cockpit containing the control console and imaging monitors.

The procedure was successful, demonstrating the effectiveness of robotic PVI in below-the-knee interventions, which doesn't require an additional iteration of the system. Further improvements in the robotic platform and system, including compatibility with 0.018 inch and 0.035 inch guidewires, over-the-wire balloon catheters, drug-coated balloons and atherectomy devices, could expand the use of this technology for PVI.