CENTER VALLEY, Pa., October 27, 2009 – Olympus, a
precision technology leader creating innovative opto-digital
solutions in healthcare, life science and consumer electronics
products, today announced the availability of
VisiGlide1, its new single use guidewire developed with
advanced technology from Terumo Corporation2 to
facilitate ERCP procedures performed by gastroenterologists.
Designed for use in endoscopic treatment of the bile and pancreatic
ducts, the new 0.025 inch VisiGlide provides the same level of
support and stiffness as a traditional 0.035 inch guidewire. Its
enhanced design includes a super-elastic alloy and hydrophilic
coatings to facilitate passage through strictures, an abnormal
narrowing of a body passage, and makes selective insertion into the
bile and pancreatic ducts easier.
By integrating Terumo's advanced materials processing technology
with Olympus' endoscope and device combination technology,
VisiGlide is expected to provide improved guidewire insertability
and maneuverability in the bile and pancreatic ducts – sites
that are traditionally difficult to reach endoscopically. The core
wire of VisiGlide is made of a super-elastic alloy with a thin
fluorine coating on its shaft. Its supportive and kink-resistant
design combined with its coatings enable the guidewire to pass
smoothly through strictures while facilitating the exchange of ERCP
devices. These advances in design are expected to make
gastrointestinal procedures performed with the ERCP technique
faster and easier.
VisiGlide provides visible markings to indicate various
distances from the distal end in order to facilitate placement and
confirmation of the guidewire's position in the endoscopic field of
view during endoscopic treatment and when exchanging devices. This
feature is expected to save X-ray radiation time. In addition, two
radiopaque markers are incorporated to improve the visibility of
the guidewire under fluoroscopy.
Market Introduction Background
In recent years, the occurrence of pancreaticobiliary diseases,
such as drainage dysfunction of digestive fluids (bile and
pancreatic juice) into the duodenum caused by biliary stricture and
papillary stricture due to bile stones and malignant tumors, has
been increasing. At the same, therapeutic modalities have been
shifting from conventional surgery to endoscopic treatments that
are less invasive for patients. The pancreatobiliary ducts are the
most difficult site in the gastrointestinal tract to approach
endoscopically, resulting in complex and protracted procedures in
which multiple devices are variously advanced along a guidewire
inserted into the papilla of Vater subsequent to observation of the
exterior of the papilla (the opening of the bile and pancreatic
ducts) with an endoscope that has been advanced to the duodenum.
The VisiGlide is designed to reduce the demands this procedure
imposes on doctors and staff and to reduce the time taken to
perform it.
SOURCE