Laser Catheter Approved for Excimer Laser Coronary Angioplasty
The Vitesse Cos catheter from the Spectranetics Corp. (Colorado Springs, CO) is designed to achieve improved debulking in a blocked coronary artery.
Spectranetics developed the Vitesse Cos using a proprietary engineering process to bundle optical fibers in a novel way. The fibers are utilized to conduct the light pulses from the laser precisely to the tissue blockage under treatment.
"We believe that this next-generation product -- the Vitesse Cos -- will improve the already superior results that physicians achieve with our excimer laser coronary angioplasty technology," said Joseph A. Largey, Spectranetics' president and CEO.
The company last year received the CE mark for the Vitesse Cos. That approval covered the product's standard six indications as well as allowed Spectranetics to market the device in Europe for the debulking of coronary stents that have become clogged, a condition known as in-stent restenosis. The usage of the company's catheters in restenosed stents is currently limited to investigational use in the United States.
The company expects to release the product in the second quarter of 2000 in the United States.