Hansen Medical out of Mountain View, California has just announced that it received FDA approval for the company’s next generation Sensei® X Robotic Catheter System, a navigation assistance technology for cardiac electrophysiologists. The company is also introducing a new ablation catheter called Artisan Extend™ that sports, according to the company, “advanced navigational capabilities and the flexibility required to reach difficult-to-access cardiac anatomy while maintaining stability during complex cardiac arrhythmia procedures.” And to cap up the news, the company will be releasing the new Lynx Robotic Ablation Catheter to the European market.
The Sensei X platform provides force feedback, giving physicians the ability to precisely control the distant tip of the catheter, and to feel when the catheter is penetrating cardiac tissue.
The new Sensei X system is the next generation flexible robotic platform that integrates advanced levels of 3D catheter control with 3D visualization, a synergistic technology combination that provides accuracy and stability to the physician. The Sensei X platform supports the new Artisan Extend control catheter, which increases the reachability and navigation properties of the existing Artisan catheter by offering more than 20 percent improvement in both bend and reach. As a result, physicians have the ability to place catheters deliberately and accurately within the heart. In addition, the Artisan Extend catheter offers improvements in setup and workflow, designed to improve usability and reduce procedure time.
The Sensei X platform also supports Hansen Medical’s CoHesion(TM) 3D Visualization Module, which integrates the 3D motion control of the Sensei X system with the 3D visualization of the St. Jude Medical EnSite(TM) system. Two features of the Sensei X system designed to improve procedural planning and workflow include Workspace Visualization, an enhancement that allows physicians to see the catheter’s reach on a 3D map prior to navigation, and EndoView, a feature that allows physicians to quickly change the orientation to a standard endoscopic view.
The new Lynx robotic ablation catheter, which the company plans to launch in the European market, is supported by the Sensei X platform and leverages the navigation capability of the Artisan Extend catheter, but in a smaller and more flexible integrated profile for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) and other electrophysiology disorders. Offering a seven French irrigated ablation tip with a standard sized sheath, the new Lynx catheter has six degrees of freedom that facilitates placement in difficult to reach anatomic locations. Pending CE Mark approval, the Lynx catheter is expected to be available in the European Union within the first half of 2010. The Lynx catheter is not currently available for sale in the U.S.
Press release: Hansen Medical Unveils Next Generation Robotic Catheter System and Two New Catheters Offering Advanced Navigation Within the Heart…
Product page: Sensei® X Robotic Catheter System…
Product brochure: Artisan Extend™ Control Catheter…
Flashbacks: The Sensei™ Robotic Catheter System ; Cardiac Electrophysiology Goes Robotic and 3D with CoHesion™
Animation showing off the Sensei X system below the fold:
