Heart Valve Guidewire

Background

Correct valve placement for Percutaneous Aortic Valve Replacement (PAVR) is critical. A great demand is placed on the wire which guides the delivery system to the site of implantation. This wire requires stiffness to track the delivery system around the aortic arch, but must also be soft enough to prevent puncture of the heart tissue. Currently, the two percutaneous aortic valves available on the market recommend the same wire, which was never designed to be used at this site and is hence far from optimal.

Problem

In order to place the valve implant, the delivery system is advanced over the guidewire through successive pushing and pulling of the wire. As the tip of the guidewire terminates in the left ventricle, pushing the wire may contact the left ventricular apex, kinking it and causing a dangerous bend to form. Due to the motion of the wire and the thin walled areas of the left ventricle, the kink could push through into the pericardium causing a potentially fatal cardiac tamponade. Reciprocally, if the wire is pulled too far back, delivery system position could be lost and the procedure would have to be restarted.

Solution

A leading London Cardiologist has developed a novel guidewire designed specifically for the deployment of percutaneous heart valves.

Market Potential

There are currently over 200,000 surgical heart valve replacements performed annually worldwide. As percutaneous valve procedures are adopted, a significant number of these will transfer and with lower associated operative risk, the percutaneous valve market is set to reach 260,000 per year. Further to aortic valve interventions, the guidewire has further potential in the mitral valve and urological stenting markets.

This product is currently available to license from NHSIL.