Imaging technology firm Gentuity, LLC, announces the first human use of the Vis-M high-frequency optical coherence tomography imaging system and probe. This represents a significant technological advance for the field of neurointervention, making high-resolution intravascular imaging in the brain possible, according to company officials.
“This is an incredibly exciting milestone. The direct visualization technology we evaluated here offers unprecedented potential in the diagnosis and treatment of aneurysms, stroke, intra-cranial atherosclerotic disease and other neurological pathologies,” says Vitor Mendes Pereira, MD. “I am proud and honored to have the opportunity to perform the first cases. The system and imaging probes performed very well, integrating with our workflow seamlessly, and provided us with important information that we cannot obtain with any other technology—very impressive.”
The procedures were performed at Canada-based St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto, by neurosurgeon Vitor Mendes Pereira, MD, MSc, director of Endovascular Research and Innovation. They were performed in the neuro-angiography suite with a minimally invasive, endovascular approach.
“We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the team at St. Michael’s Hospital and to contribute our novel high-resolution intracranial images to the care of these patients,” says David Kolstad, CEO of Gentuity. “These procedures reflect years of technical innovation, development, and extensive testing. They are an important step in our mission to develop a platform that will improve the understanding of target diseases, facilitate the development of novel therapies, and ensure optimal treatment delivery for the benefit of patients worldwide.”
Gentuity’s Vis-M neuro-intravascular imaging probe has been designed to specifically address the challenges of navigating through the tortuous and delicate blood vessels of the brain. This imaging probe enables in-vivomicron level resolution at 250 frames per second providing high-resolution images not only of the arterial wall and interventional therapies but also beyond the vessel wall.
“Today, we welcome the new era of intravascular imaging in intracranial circulation with this new technology,” adds Matt Gounis PhD, professor at the UMass Medical School Department of radiology and director of New England Center for Stroke Research.
“Revolutions in neurointerventional imaging, from the discovery of x-rays over 120 years ago, to 3D imaging in the angiography suite 20 years ago, occur roughly once in a generation,” Gounis adds. “The work demonstrated by Dr. Pereira and his team in these first human cases is profound—direct imaging of the pathology and its relationship to devices transforms treatment decisions, and the fundamental understanding of cerebrovascular pathology.”
