New commercial system enables "world's highest resolution OCT" imaging within coronary arteries
MAY 15, 2009--LightLab Imaging Inc. (Westford, MA) introduced its next-generation optical coherence tomography (OCT) system for cardiac application, the C7XR FD-OCT Imaging System with the C7 Dragonfly Imaging Catheter, yesterday at EuroPCR 2009 Barcelona, Spain. According to LightLab, the new instrument is the world's first approved frequency domain OCTproduct for in vivointracoronary imaging for heart disease investigation. It enables micron-level resolution image acquisition of the coronary artery and can scan a 40mm artery segment in less than 3 seconds with a single non-occlusive catheter.
While not available in the U.S., the cardiac OCT system received a CE Mark in March.
According to Dr. Francesco Prati of Ospedale San Giovanni (Rome, Italy), the system is a significant step forward. "I am very pleased with the speed and simplicity of the imaging procedure and the improvements in image quality are truly impressive," he said. "I would expect frequency domain OCT to replace IVUS in many cases or centers."
The launch "is an important milestone for LightLab Imaging, and represents years of successful collaboration with many of the world's leading interventionalists," said company president and CEO David Kolstad. "The image quality is extraordinary, greatly enhancing ease of image interpretation. We are confident that it will quickly improve best practices for stent procedures and other intracoronary interventions."
OCT generates intravascular images with a resolution up to 10 to 15 times greater than other clinically available imaging devices, including intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). With its higher resolution, OCT may reduce observer variability in all standard cross-sectional measurements.
The C7XR system follows LightLab's Time Domain OCT (TD-OCT) device, the M2x, which is available in more than 20 countries worldwide. More than 10,000 patient intracoronary images have been taken since the company launched the M2x which, until now, was the only commercially available intracoronary OCT imaging device in the world according to LightLab.
The C7XR system is 10 times faster, and provides higher resolution. These advances permit high speed and non-occlusive imaging of coronary vasculature at extremely high resolution. A single catheter design promises images of the coronary anatomy with extraordinary image quality in mere seconds.
LightLab Imaging Inc. is considered a pioneer and leader in the development of OCT for vascular and other applications. Lately, the the company has been involved in legal battle with Volcano Corp., a competitor that acquired Axsun Technologies in late 2008. Last summer, LightLab signed an exclusive supply agreement with Axsun.
Learn more about LightLab's OCT systems at the company's website.
Posted by Barbara G. Goode, [email protected], for BioOptics World.