Dutch health technology firm Royal Philips has launched OmniWire, a solid core pressure wire designed for coronary artery interventional procedures.
OmniWire has been designed with a solid core construction to enable physicians easily maneuver the wire in the patient’s circulatory system, to measure the blood pressure along the vessel and guide the delivery of catheters and stents.
The new pressure wire is expected to support the instant wave-Free Ratio (iFR) measurements, the resting index supported by randomised controlled outcome trials, along with fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements.
Also, OmniWire can integrate with the Philips IntraSight interventional applications platform, which facilitates co-registering of iFR data onto the angiogram to accurately identify the areas of blood vessels needing treatment.
Philips image guided therapy devices senior vice president and general manager Chris Landon said: “With integration and co-registration on our IntraSight platform, measurement with iFR, and now enhanced wire performance thanks to OmniWire, we’re providing clinicians with an advanced solution at every step of the procedure.
“Physicians can confidently use a functional guidance strategy across all their patients, including in complex and multi-vessel cases. Today’s announcement demonstrates how our unique portfolio of systems, smart devices, software and services combines to deliver advanced procedure-oriented solutions.”
OmniWire has received the US FDA approval, and a regulatory approval in Japan
Traditional pressure wires leverage a hollow metal tube, dubbed hypotube, to hold the wiring that gathers pressure information, and the thin walls of the vessels make it hard for the wires to maneuver and occasionally gets twisted during the procedure.
Philips claimed that OmniWire is the world’s first solid core pressure guidewire to communicate pressure information, by leveraging advanced conductive ribbons embedded in its outer polymer layer.
Having received the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, and Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency approval, OmniWire is currently being commercialised in the US and Japan.
The distal part of the wire is made from Nitinol, a super-elastic, durable material, commonly used in non-diagnostic, interventional ‘workhorse’ guide wires, and the proximal part from a high-strength cobalt alloy that offers enhanced durability needed for complex and multi-vessel cases.
Barnes Jewish Hospital catheterisation lab director and Washington University associate professor Jasvindar Singh has performed the first procedure in humans using OmniWire.
Singh said: “I have been very impressed with the handling of OmniWire, the new solid core design performed beautifully, and I was able to navigate the difficult case easily. We used iFR co-registration and found that the patient needed a stent. I was then able to perform the whole procedure working over OmniWire. This is truly an innovation in percutaneous coronary interventions.”
