A Medical Device Daily

At the 86th annual meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (Beverly, Massachusetts), being held through tomorrow in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Convention Center, numerous companies unveiled new products to catch the eye of attendees.

One such company, Estech (San Ramon, California), used the conference to launch its Cobra Adhere XL cardiac ablation system.

The company said this new alternative for cardiac ablation has been proven to provide safe and effective cardiac ablation during its period of limited release.

Robert Lazzara, MD, and J. Crayton Pruitt, MD, both with Cardiac Surgical Associates (Tampa, Florida), reported continued success with a series of minimally invasive cardiac ablation procedures using the device, a new tool in the company's Cobra line of radio frequency (RF) devices for cardiac ablation.

“We used the Cobra Adhere XL in a least invasive method, accessing the heart with only three small punctures between the ribs,” said Lazzara. “The device offers the advantage of suction adherence to the surface of the heart, efficiently delivering ablation therapy, requiring only a few minutes of time to deliver the treatment, in a hands-free environment.”

“The Cobra Adhere XL represents a significant new option for patients requiring cardiac ablation, with specific indications for atrial fibrillation in Europe, and cardiac ablation in the U.S.,” said Estech president and CEO Art Bertolero. “In peer reviewed studies conducted on atrial fibrillation patients, the Cobra technology has produced the highest ablation success rates, and early results with the Cobra Adhere products show success rates approaching 90%.”

The company said the Cobra technology uses a unique intelligent temperature-based system that provides both “optimal and reproducible” results by regulating the RF energy.

The Adhere XL and the AFfirm have recently received FDA 510(k) clearance.

The Adhere surgical system received the CE mark with an indication for treatment of AF. The Adhere is used by surgeons to make lesions on the heart that block the electrical impulses that cause AF.

The company said the device will enable a minimally invasive technique to treat AF. The Cobra AFfirm is the first RF product accessory to be indicated for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias in the United States. It provides a means for immediately evaluating the effectiveness of AF treatment procedures.

Estech offers tools for least invasive techniques and traditional approaches to coronary artery bypass, valve surgery, atrial ablation and surgical treatment of congestive heart failure.

In other news from the AATS meeting:

• Novadaq Technologies (Toronto), a developer of medical imaging systems for the operating room, is showcasing its SPY system at the Sorin Group (Milan, Italy) booth exhibit during the meeting.

FDA-cleared in January 2005, SPY uses an infrared laser to stimulate a fluorescent imaging agent injected into the blood stream. When stimulated, the agent lights up the blood in the veins and arteries in real time, and the camera – which produces an ultra-high speed image at 30 frames per second – shows live images of the heart. Captured via computer, these images can be saved and printed for reference.

Novadaq develops medical devices based on its imaging platform for the diagnosis and treatment of vascular, ophthalmic and neurologic diseases and conditions.