Avinger of Redwood City, CA received the CE Mark for its new Ocelot catheter for treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The device features built-in optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner near the tip of the drill.
Simultaneous navigation imaging inside the therapeutic catheter is a great combination for improved efficiency when looking for and crossing a thrombus within arteries.
Ocelot is a groundbreaking new tool for accessing discrete regions of the peripheral vasculature while simultaneously providing OCT visualization for navigation through arteries. Using Ocelot’s Lightbox console as an adjunct to fluoroscopy, for the first time ever, medical professionals will have access to a therapeutic device that incorporates real time intravascular guidance.
Avinger recently returned from Paraguay where it is currently enrolling patients in the VISTA study. VISTA is a single‐center, non‐randomized registry study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Ocelot in patients with Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). The Principal Investigator of this trial is Dr. Adrian Ebner of Sanitorio Italiano in Asunción, Paraguay. Dr. John Simpson of Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA and Dr. John Pigott of Jobst Vascular Institute in Toledo, OH also participated in this ground-breaking first in man registry in Paraguay.
Commercialization of Ocelot in select European countries will begin on September 23, 2011. The first three commercial cases are scheduled to be performed in Italy and Germany in late September and early October.
