CardiacAssist (Pittsburgh, PA) won European regulatory approval to introduce its PROTEK Duo veno-venous cannula for “venous drainage and reinfusion of blood via an internal jugular vein during extracorporeal life support procedures,” according to the company. The device is designed to overcome limitations of mechanical ventilation, bypassing the lungs and delivering oxygen straight into the blood using an oxygenator. It can be paired with the TandemHeart pump, which offers up to a month of circulatory support.
The PROTEK Duo works via an internal jugular vein and can be placed so that the blood moves from the right atrium into the pulmonary artery, improving oxygenation and relieving the right side of the heart.
The device has been already been available and in use in the United States since last year.
Omni-directional inflow/outflow ports are designed to mitigate recirculation and provide 360-degree access for ease in positioning.
From CardiacAssist’s announcement:
Veno‐venous extracorporeal life support (VV ECLS) is an emerging therapy designed to provide a higher level of support by infusing oxygen directly into the blood using an oxygenator, a medical device that acts as an artificial lung. In one large, randomized, controlled clinical trial of 180 adult ARDS patients, the use of advanced VV ECLS therapy was shown to reduce the rate of death and disability by 31% compared to conventional management with mechanical ventilation.3
The PROTEK Duo ™ cannula is designed to address two major roadblocks that have prevented VV ECLS therapy from becoming a new standard of care: the difficulty of initiating and maintaining a patient on VV ECLS support, and suboptimal gas exchange rates with devices that are currently available. Insertion of the PROTEK Duo ™ cannula can be performed through a minimally invasive percutaneous procedure.
Product page: PROTEK Duo…
Source: CardiacAssist…