Business, surgery, cardiology  

Boston Scientific launches less-invasive visualization system for cardiac surgical ablation

29 Sept 2006

Natick, Mass., USA. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) has launched in the US its FLEXView System for unilateral visualization and routing in microwave cardiac surgical ablation procedures. The technology was launched by Boston Scientific's Cardiac Surgery business, formerly part of Guidant, which the Company acquired in April this year.

Microwave surgical ablation can be performed in combination with valve or coronary artery bypass surgeries or in minimally invasive, stand-alone procedures. The new FLEXView System enables physicians to perform stand-alone ablation procedures in a closed chest environment with direct visualization of the procedure at all times. Furthermore, the FLEXView System allows surgeons to perform a one-sided (unilateral) ablation procedure, thereby decreasing the invasiveness of the current procedure.

"With the launch of the FLEXView System, Boston Scientific has delivered a new generation of minimally invasive surgical technology," said Lisa Earnhardt, President of Boston Scientific's Cardiac Surgery business. "Patients should experience less pain, a faster recovery and fewer days in the hospital as a result of the innovative FLEXView System. We are pleased to be the first to offer physicians and patients the benefits of a streamlined, unilateral approach for this procedure."

"This truly less-invasive approach will help expand the referral basis and enable physicians to reach out to a greater percentage of the population who would benefit from this therapy," said Li Poa, M.D., Enloe Medical Center, Chico, CA. "The FLEXView System responds to technical challenges experienced by many surgeons."

"The future of cardiac surgical ablation will rest with minimally invasive approaches," commented Adam Saltman, M.D., Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY. "The FLEXView System greatly simplifies the endoscopic approach and will encourage a much broader adoption of the procedure. It is a significant step forward."

 

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