InfraReDx First Use in Coronary Patients of a Combined Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Ultrasound Imaging Catheter
BURLINGTON, Massachusetts and ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- InfraReDx, Inc. announced today the first use in patients of a novel coronary catheter that uses both light and sound to image coronary plaques. Working on a team led by Dr. Patrick Serruys, Dr. Martin van der Ent performed the procedures on May 11, 2009 in patients undergoing coronary angiography at the Thoraxcenter.
The combination catheter provides the benefits of both IVUS and NIRS imaging in a single study of the artery. IVUS is a well-established technique that is in common use to quantify the degree of narrowing produced by a plaque, the size of the artery and the adequacy of stent expansion. NIRS is a novel technique recently cleared by the FDA for the identification of lipid core plaques, the structures suspected to cause most heart attacks and complicate stenting procedures.
Prof. Serruys stated that, "The composition of atherosclerotic plaques is important in assessing the likelihood that they will cause cardiovascular events. This novel device provides composition on top of anatomy and will play a pivotal role in interventional cardiology, first in clinical trials and further on in treatment planning in individual patients."
The Biomedical Engineering Department of the Thoraxcenter, led by Prof. Dr. Ton van der Steen, provided expertise essential to the addition of IVUS to the NIRS system.
"In order to determine both composition and structure of an atherosclerotic plaque, a combination catheter is necessary. I am truly excited that InfraReDx teamed up with the Thoraxcenter in this development, both from a technical and a clinical perspective," says Prof. van der Steen.
James E. Muller, M.D., cardiologist, co-founder and CEO of InfraReDx stated that, "The InfraReDx team is proud to have developed the first combined optical and acoustic catheter for use in the coronary arteries of patients. The addition of IVUS to our FDA cleared LipiScan(TM) catheter provides a novel tool that we believe will assist physicians with the complex decisions they face in the management of patients with coronary artery disease."
Live patient case to be broadcast at EuroPCR Conference this week
On Wednesday, May 20, Dr. van der Ent will be performing a live case with the combined catheter from the Thoraxcenter for the EuroPCR Conference taking place this week in Barcelona, Spain from May 19 - 22, 2009.
About The LipiScan(TM) Coronary Imaging System
The LipiScan(TM) Coronary Imaging System is a catheter-based device that uses laser light to detect how much fat and other substances are contained in a plaque. The identification of the chemical composition of coronary plaques is expected to be of initial value to cardiologists in efforts to improve the safety of stenting procedures, and selection of intensity of lipid altering therapy. The longer-term goal of identification and management of lipid core plaques is to prevent the occurrence of acute coronary syndromes. The device is also expected to be of value to the pharmaceutical industry as a means to assess the effect of novel anti-atherosclerotic agents on lipid core plaque burden.
About InfraReDx, Inc.
InfraReDx, Inc. is a science-based medical device company with expertise in technologies useful for characterization of coronary plaques. The company first developed a system utilizing near-infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) technology to identify plaque composition. It has now developed IVUS technology to provide complementary information about the structure of plaques. The company, located in Burlington, Mass., was founded in 1998 to meet the unmet medical need for detection and identification of lipid core containing plaques of interest in the coronary arteries. For more information, visit the InfraReDx website at www.infraredx.com.
Thoraxcenter Contact:
David Drexhage, Press Officer Communications Department Erasmus MC P.O. Box 2040 3000 CA Rotterdam, NL
Tel +31-10-703-55-25 d.drexhage@erasmusmc.nl
InfraReDx Company Contacts:
Technology Contact:
Mark A. Wilder, Vice President Business and Advanced Development InfraReDx, Inc. +1-781-221-0053 mwilder@infraredx.com
Investor Contact:
Jeff Mazur, Controller InfraReDx, Inc. +1-781-221-0053 jmazur@infraredx.com