Philips Wins FDA Nod for Enhanced LumiGuide Endovascular Navigation Wire

Philips has introduced its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved 160 cm version of its LumiGuide endovascular navigation wire.
 
The enhanced guidewire leverages the company’s Fiber Optic RealShape (FORS) technology, which Philips said can help U.S. clinicians visualize a broader range of catheters. It also expands the tech’s usage to American patients treated in centers equipped with LumiGuide.
 
LumiGuide allows doctors to see their guidewires and catheters in 3D and color as they manipulate them inside the patient’s body, from any angle, in real-time, and with minimal radiation. The company said FORS technology simplifies navigation in tortuous vessels (blood vessels that are twisted or winding).
 
Using this advanced technology, complex cases such as aortic repair procedures can be done 37% faster and use 70% less X-ray imaging during the process, according to Philips. The new guidewire provides greater reach and enhanced catheter loading possibilities than the company’s existing 120cm (47 inch) guidewire.
 
“LumiGuide unlocks the color visualization of wires, catheters, and patient anatomies in 3D from any angle, including simultaneous angles to generate ‘virtual biplane’ images. Combined with device navigation viewed from angles physically unachievable using conventional C-arm systems, it has already been shown to improve workflows, reduce procedure times, and decrease patient and staff radiation dose,” said Dr. Atul Gupta, chief medical officer for Diagnosis and Treatment at Philips and a practicing interventional radiologist.