PlaqueTec (Cambridge, UK), has received CE Mark approval for its first of a kind Liquid Biopsy System that can be used to gather information from diseased arteries to better tailor treatment strategies for patients with cardiovascular disease. The Liquid Biopsy System, which is used along with conventional equipment in a catheterization laboratory, allows the physician to draw blood samples near a legion, simultaneously both just above and below the target site. By analyzing the presence of certain biomarkers in the drawn blood, physicians can assess the risk of a potential fatal heart attack for the patient. Physicians can also use the biomarker data obtained from the whole blood samples to develop both pharmaceutical as well as interventional treatment strategies that are more effective in treating the diseased coronary arteries.
The difficulty in obtaining biomarkers from lesion sites mainly arises because plaque biomarkers hug vessel walls as they flow downstream. The Liquid Biopsy System overcomes the boundary layer challenge faced by conventional catheters that cannot capture samples near vascular walls. The PlaqueTec Liquid Biopsy system is delivered like any other catheter and, upon unsheathing, metal baffles unfold that cause blood flow to transition from laminar to turbulent. The induced turbulence results in a mixing effect where the boundary layer markers mix with the central flow that can be collected by the catheter.
PlaqueTec has successfully completed its First in Man clinical study which showed that blood collected from diseased coronary arteries contained biological entities that are released from the artery walls.
Press release: PlaqueTec secures CE mark for its Liquid Biopsy System…
Product page: PlaqueTec…