Edwards Lifesciences’ Sapien 3 Ultra TAVR [Image courtesy of Edwards Lifesciences]
Multiple components go into a catheter delivery system, with several ways to combine them. An Edwards Lifesciences senior R&D director goes over potential pitfalls.
A catheter is a tube that can deliver devices or pharmaceuticals into the body. It is also commonly used for diagnostic purposes. A catheter has a hub or a handle on its end that can connect to a syringe or something that actuates a device.
There are a number of catheter delivery systems currently on the market that deploy devices such as heart pumps, balloons, stents and other clot-busting products.
The catheters need to be small enough to fit through the blood vessels and flexible enough to navigate the human body’s complex cardiovascular system.
Sean Chow, a senior director of R&D at Edwards Lifesciences, told Medical Design & Outsourcing about three pitfalls that creators of catheter-based delivery systems should avoid.
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