A Medical Device Daily

A system that can be used for unilateral visualization and routing during a microwave cardiac surgical ablation procedure was has been launched in the U.S. by Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts)

The FLEXView system was launched by the company's Cardiac Surgery business, formerly part of Guidant (Indianapolis), which the company acquired in April (Medical Device Daily, April 24, 2006).

Eric Olson, a company spokesperson told Medical Device Daily that the FLEXView system is designed to be used in conjunction with the FLEX 10 surgical ablation probe in minimally invasive thoracoscopic cardiac ablation procedures. Microwave surgical ablation is used to apply focused microwave energy to cardiac tissue.

Microwave surgical ablation can be performed in combination with valve or coronary artery bypass surgeries or in minimally invasive, stand-alone procedures. The new system is designed to enable physicians to perform stand-alone ablation procedures in a closed chest environment with direct visualization of the procedure at all times.

“With the launch of the FLEXView system, Boston Scientific has delivered a new generation of minimally invasive surgical technology,” said Lisa Earnhardt, president of Boston Scientific's Cardiac Surgery business. “Patients should experience less pain, a faster recovery and fewer days in the hospital as a result of the innovative FLEXView system.

Additionally, the system allows surgeons to perform a one-sided (unilateral) ablation procedure, thereby decreasing the invasiveness of the current procedure.

The company said the FLEXView is the first system designed specifically for less-invasive, unilateral procedures. It said that with the help of this new visualization aid, patients should recover faster and with less pain than with procedures that require rib spreading.

The system is designed to provide a wide and clear view of the anatomy and the surgical site at all times during the closed chest and specialized routing and retrieval tools included with the system may reduce the overall procedure time by 30 minutes or more.

“The future of cardiac surgical ablation will rest with minimally invasive approaches,” said Adam Saltman, MD, Maimonides Medical Center (Brooklyn, New York). “The FLEXView system greatly simplifies the endoscopic approach and will encourage a much broader adoption of the procedure. It is a significant step forward.”

The company noted that the FLEX microwave surgical ablation system, which consists of a microwave generator and probe, has been used in more than 1,300 stand-alone thoracoscopic ablation procedures and nearly 12,000 associated procedures.