Healthcare Industry News:  microcoils 

Devices Interventional

 News Release - March 22, 2007

Cook Medical Introduces the MiraFlex(TM) Microcatheter

New Microcatheter Engineered Specifically for Use with Cook Embolization Products


BLOOMINGTON, Ind.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Cook Medical has developed a microcatheter specially designed to complement Cook embolization products. The Cook MiraFlex(TM) embodies the latest innovation in microcatheter technology by offering better compatibility through matching catheters and coils. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the device for market in 2006. Miraflex is approved for sale in the United States, Australia, Canada, Singapore, India, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.



"This highly advanced new device is specially designed to benefit both patients and physicians. When used in conjunction with Cook's other embolization products, the MiraFlex microcatheter allows for confident coil deployment," says Rob Lyles, global leader of Cook's peripheral intervention division. "Cook continues to develop new and innovative products for clinicians looking to improve patient outcomes. With the introduction of MiraFlex, Cook offers a state-of-the-art microcatheter to complement the Cook embolization family."

An embolization procedure stops blood flow to malformed or otherwise problematic blood vessels within a patient. The embolic material is delivered precisely within the vessel to stop the bleeding from a damaged artery or blood flow to an aneurysm. The embolic devices are delivered through the catheter with the tip lying in or near the vessel to be occluded. This treatment can also be used to control bleeding resulting from injury as well stop blood flow from feeding a tumor.

The .021 inch inner diameter of the microcatheter provides for optimal coil delivery. Miraflex can be used in combination with a wide variety of embolization materials including Cook MicroNester® and Tornado® microcoils(TM). The catheter is indicated for use in small vessel or superselective anatomy for diagnostic and interventional procedures including neurological, peripheral, or coronary vasculature.

"Miraflex has further added to my collection of resources for treatment of post traumatic embolizations all the way to complex posterior epistaxis embolizations," says Awais Siddique, M.D., chief endovascular interventional radiologist at the Aurora Sheboygan Medical Center, Sheboygan, Wis. "The catheter's flexible braided design, along with its unique five transitional zones, gives it great pushability and the highly visible tip design is needed for the most challenging and tortuous anatomy. Miraflex has one of the most durable hub designs which, in my opinion, makes it a much sturdier catheter."

Miraflex has a braided construction along the entire length of the catheter shaft to the radiopaque band. This helps to improve torque response and allows for quicker vessel selection. The braided design also contributes to the flexibility of the catheter and its rated burst pressure of 600 psi, resulting in the catheter providing higher flow rates.

Each microcatheter is hydrophilic-coated - greatly reducing surface friction - and has five-durometer zones ranging from a stout proximal portion that delivers improved pushablility and control, to a soft, flexible distal tip. MiraFlex is also lipiodol/DMSO compatible, addressing catheter durability during chemoembolization procedures.

About Cook Medical:

Cook Medical was the first company to introduce interventional devices in the United States. Today, the company participates in all global markets, integrating device design, biopharma, gene and cell therapy and biotech to enhance patient safety and improve clinical outcomes. Cook won the prestigious Medical Device Manufacturer of the Year for 2006 from Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry magazine. For more information, visit www.cookmedical.com.


Source: Cook Medical

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