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Procedures such as angioplasty, stenting, and endovascular grafting represent impressive achievements in medical technology. Now, a device created by tubing supplier Enki S.r.l. (Mirandola, MO, Italy) and medical equipment developer Angiologica (Pavia, Italy) focuses on a different way to pursue vessel navigation and catheterization.
The Enki-Angiologica directional catheter was created to eliminate the need for several types of guidewires and catheter shapes to access distantly located vessels, explains Marco Scoccianti, MD, a project collaborator. Current technology requires surgeons to have access to different tools for each procedure, he says. “You may need a Simmons for the carotid artery, a cobra for the renal, and a shepherd’s hook for a cross-over. This makes procedures difficult and slow, and requires a big stock of items. Obviously, it also increases the costs of a cath lab and the time spent keeping it updated,” says Scoccianti.
The directional catheter is designed to replace conventional catheter inventory and make diagnostic or interventional vascular procedures smoother, faster, and cheaper to perform. The device includes a hydrophilic flexible shaft, an ergonomic handle, and a patented pull system, allowing the operator to precisely change the tip configuration of the catheter and navigate all of the main aortic branches from a distant access site. All of this is accomplished within a standard 5 F (for diagnostic) or 7 F (for interventional) catheter size.
The device is also designed to maintain the tip configuration chosen by the operator, even when a guidewire is inserted. “The visibility of the catheter tip permits precise, graduated flexion under fluoroscopic control, while the handle rack maintains the catheter tip in the desired position,” says Scoccianti. This reduces the risk of failed catheterization and the need to change the catheter for a differently shaped one. Thus the device, which is easier and less expensive to use than traditional catheters, improves outcomes for the surgeon, the lab, and the patient.
