• Arbios Systems (Waltham, Massachusetts) reported positive results from the completed feasibility clinical trial of its SEPET liver assist device, in which 79% of patients met the primary clinical effectiveness endpoint. The SEPET device is a large-pore blood filter that is being studied in chronic liver disease patients for its potential to promote improvements in liver function following acute exacerbation of liver failure, through its ability to selectively reduce the level of circulating toxins of hepatic failure as well as inflammatory mediators and inhibitors of liver regeneration. It is a sterile, disposable cartridge containing microporous hollow fibers with patented permeability characteristics. When a patient’s blood is passed through these fibers, blood plasma components of specific molecular weights are expressed through the micropores, thereby cleansing the blood of harmful impurities (i.e., hepatic failure toxins as well as various mediators of inflammation and inhibitors of liver regeneration). These substances would otherwise progressively accumulate in the patient’s bloodstream during liver failure, causing hypotension, increasing risk of sepsis development and accelerating damage to the liver, lungs and other organs, including the brain and kidneys, and suppressing the function and regeneration of the liver. Arbios makes cell-based therapies for treatment of liver failure.

• Aragon Surgical (Palo Alto, California) said that it has introduced the LapCap at the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (SLS) meeting in San Francisco. The LapCap is a pneumoperitoneum creation assist device. As the initial step in the majority of laparoscopic procedures, general surgeons and gynecologists blindly pass a 12cm-long needle through the patient’s abdominal wall and into the abdominal (peritoneal) cavity, guided only by subtle, tactile feedback. A correctly positioned needle then serves as the conduit for instillation of carbon dioxide gas into the cavity, creating a “pnuemoperitoneum.” This gas-filled abdominal cavity is the space within which laparoscopic surgery is performed. With the Aragon Surgical LapCap, the company said that blind needle passage is safe, simple, rapid, and predictable. The device uses simple suction to elevate the abdominal wall up and away from the intestines and blood vessels, creating a “safe space” within the peritoneal cavity into which the Veress needle is fully advanced. Aragon Surgical is a venture-backed surgical device start-up company.