A scientific presentation of a new vascular embolic device was presented today at the 2018 Society Of Interventional Radiology conference in Los Angeles, California.
“GPX is a biocompatible particle embolic loaded in a pre-packaged syringe in a low-viscosity state. After injection into a blood vessel through a standard catheter, GPX can fill the targeted vessel and therapeutically slow or stop blood flow,” said Josh Jones, PhD, presenting author of the scientific abstract. “It is non-toxic and non-inflammatory and can be delivered through standard off-the-shelf small and large catheters. It does not rely on polymerization or precipitation, and is designed to deliver precise control & safety for embolization procedures.”
Therapeutic catheter-delivered embolization is performed to stop or slow arterial or venous blood flow into certain organs or anomalies to control bleeding; treat aneurysms; seal arterial venous malformations; selectively block blood flow into specific organs and conditions (prostate, uterine fibroids…etc.); and/or de-vascularize certain tumors to starve them of blood supply.
“The data presented today is exciting. In acute in-vivo experiments, GPX was delivered with no catheter reflux and demonstrated complete vascular occlusion without crossing into the venous circulation,” said David Blossom, President of Fluidx Medical Technology. “Some other embolic devices stick to catheters during delivery which can create patient safety issues. Today’s data shows that a catheter could be left in the body, with GPX embolic material around it, for hours without risk of catheter entrapment. Because of its ease-of-use and precise control, GPX represents a promising new device to help patients in a variety of embolization scenarios.”
Embolic devices include particles, coils, and liquids/glues. Particles, sometimes referred to as “beads” or “gel-beads,” are generally small polymer spheres injected thorough catheters, flow downstream with the blood flow, and embolize large spaces. But, particles are hard to control, sometimes uncontrollably & unintentionally flow into non-target organs, typically are not radiopaque, and do not allow the clinician to create a plug.
Metallic coils can create a plug to occlude flow, but lack precision, sometimes perforate the vessel, and often require numerous expensive deployments to occlude. Liquid embolics, including “glues,” have advantages for certain procedures, but are associated with cytotoxicity; vascular inflammation; clumping; in-vivo polymerization and precipitation; and accidental catheter entrapment in the body that can be catastrophic for the patient.
GPX Embolic Particles are developed by Fluidx Medical Technology based in Park City, Utah, US and foreign patents issued and pending. GPX is under development and not FDA cleared at this time.
